Just had an all-facility meeting, the Orange plant is closing up over the next seven months.
39 replies (most recent on top)
When Owen stepped down and promoted Juan Villa, it was apparent that Juan was positioned to be the closer. It seemed intentional because Owen would have had to select someone who was a member of his steering committee to do the dirty deed of shutting the campus down. I don't blame him for his decision. I worked there from 2001 until 2020. It was a great place to work because there was a lot of forward thinking individuals. Moreover, they made the place extremely viable when they went to a cellular organization. They trained the entire workforce on a particular business model. Not all things were great or perfect. Nonetheless, I cherish the memories and friendships I gained from having worked there.
I worked there in the 80s and in the 90s good place to work. Worked with old man Scotty really good guy after he left things just didn’t go well after that ended up getting laid off came back in the 90s the place was garbage after that worked with some real id--ts back stabbers always talking sm--k behind your back you guys know who you are you’re A holes lotta jealous people there that didn’t want you to succeed ended up getting laid off where’s a good place till the management let the id--ts run the place.
No one bought the property including Amazon apparently. It's now listed for sale by LA Realty Partners.
Treated me well when I got laid off .
Sad, just sad. My father inlaw worked here for years mostly in the paint booth & even he confirmed that management was not the brightest even in the 90s. He loved the job especially since it was literally down the street from his house on Eckhoff. Only figured out about it being gone when my now wife & I tried to take a picture next to the eagle.
Just watched the test rig get pulled down by a wire today. Came crashing down. I’d officially mark that as an end of an era. Congrats to the NOV management team, you guys failed. Bravo.
I purchased some auction items and was informed by the auction house that Amazon purchased the property and is leveling the place to build a revolutionary factory to freeze meats. However I have not confirmed that.............
NOV in orange is run down. Old equipment
Anyone know who bought the property? Heard someone bought the campus for 54 mill ;)
it was fun working for varco back in the 80's- i learn a lot about heavy equipment- i just to run all the TDS parts on the big G&L cell system that they have
good memories !
YN
They are closing in orange California. Is that true.
Yep. One of my oldest buds is being relocated due to the closure. This was a long time coming.
Rip top drives. Houston can’t handle it. Will be like a 3 year lead time for everything.
Train wreck!
I worked there until July 2017. I am an engineer and now my salary is almost 50% more. Orange NOV you will excel in other place. In God we trust.
The last three years Management only kept friends not necessarily the best people. Without talent it is impossible kept the business running.
Lost in the Sauce....
The weird thing is they think that some of the folks here would be willing to relocate to Houston to help get the product line running smoothly, but I just don’t see how anyone would do that when the company’s future is so shaky. If oil was still at $100/barrel this wouldn’t be an issue; but with oil demand so low and no end to COVID in sight, it just seems like a really dodgy deal. Am I missing something?
As a long-term employee it’s sad to see a once great place deteriorate to what it became in the last years. It has been expensive to operate in California for many years but Orange used to have a lot of talent that made up for the cost. Sadly, even Owen who was part of a team that kept that facility going inspite of cost lost sight of what kept us competitive. Management and indirect labor became a place for his friends and family and little by little the good technical people left. That left too much of a void to fill. And also bringing in managers from failing outside companies and somehow thinking they were going to make a positive difference was another huge mistake of his. You can only compensate for other peoples incompetence for so long until there’s not enough good people left to compensate for them. It reminds me of what they say about socialism, “eventually you run out of other peoples money “. Orange management eventually ran out of other peoples talent.
Orange has been dead for awhile they just pushed in the grave!
Honorbodage doesn’t have thE pull to shut down
Cali, hair club for men rogain did .....he lost so much market share. Nabors owns the market now.
I'm sorry to hear that. I was let go back in the 2016 mass layoff. Since then I've gotten a much better gig, and encourage everyone affected to keep their chins up. There is better work outside of NOV.
Should be no oil and gas jobs in CA!!! Move em to Saudi!!!
Closing in Orange and opening in Saudi Arabia. Not only are these guys in management callous enough to lay people off while not touching anyone in management but they're also directly selling out American jobs. Talk about a real group of winners.
Odin of asgard was great, we build it you drill it! He even look viking! But as thor got older he was a good worker, and Odin brought in loki, because he thought that Thors friends should work in asgard and have high authority positions for his sons companionship. He lost his mind of realism and became blinded by fantasies of people coming in and getting thee advantages of high royalties with out putting in any work. You can take people to the top of the mountain by flying there to see the view but they can only appreciate and enjoy it if they climb up there and see it for themselves. Thats to Kennedy Clan... so odin slowly left a mess... asgard sure gonna miss those cheeseballs for December thoe
Owen would have never let this happen...Bad management
Good times fellas!
Bi-Bi Birdie
That s—s. Best of luck in the future to all of those affected.
Sad days
If it aint top drive it aint sh!+ !!!
Thats the mentality that should of kept going...second base, salty dawg,pump room, famous daves bbq order for 25 people and theres only five people for a meeting but they still break employees off to dig in... once the stoic roman empire was great until there was nothing better else to do but worry about petty political battles instead of everybody pushing weight together they get takin over by barbarians, because their minds got soft....they were going down before the covid.. to many chiefs not enough warriors... weak times and now we just have memories of fast times at ridgemont high! God Bless
The given rationale for it taking seven months is for it to scale down, transfer equipment, and tidy things up. I imagine most people will probably be cut loose at two months since that’s the minimum notice the company has to give for a plant closure, and nowadays NOV isn’t really known for doing anything more than the minimum required.
Ahh, A.B. strikes again.......
The HR department in orange is a joke. rude , racist and unprofessional.
That’s a hugely significant move by NOV and a very ominous sign
It is sad because that facility is probably the most influential manufacturing in O&G history with their inventions. The first Iron Roughneck, Top Drive and so many other innovations out of one facility. Also, the most visited customer witness Functional Acceptance Test for any facility in O&G. This has been 20 years in the making, even going back to the Varco days. Had to happen eventually because it's just so expensive there.
Hopefully the dopes in management will realize some of the engineers there are really good and worth keeping around.
My mistake. PCG will take all orange top drives. Anirban favorite Facility.
Why seven months, is it just the downturn or is it the lockdowns in CA?
It’s true. Houston (529) will get all orange top drives n mex will get all weldments
F— OIL AND GAS MAN...