Thread regarding Chevron Corp. layoffs

Have to centralize more. That’s the only way to drive down costs. BUs don’t have economies of scale and contractors are running circles around us. Need to be aggressive and focus on the bottom line above “partnership” or whatever excuse that’s made up not to hold people accountable when they don’t deliver.

There is plenty of low hanging fruit to cut. People that have been with the company for years that are rated poor performers and know all the HR rules so they know how to abuse them. Every work area has them. Start getting rid of people who su-k when they start because they will not get better.

Develop a business strategy and execute on it. Get your employees excited about the future. We are buying back shares and increasing dividends because we have nothing else to invest our money on. The stock buybacks have not increased share prices.....

CVX has to decide to be an oil company. Right now they want to make money by doing nothing and cutting staff. It will work for a little while but eventually production will decline too much and no experienced staff to execute new projects to, you know, make more oil, and thus more money.

Listen, we have people on payroll who aren't bringing anything to the table. BUT I wouldn't put the blame solely on the employee.

The reality is, we have people on projects where their specific skillset is not needed and/or they're on a team with one to many cooks in the kitchen. Mix in the fact that we don't hold anyone accountable, you get this culture that perpetuates low standards. No one cares if something gets dragged out, low quality, or over budget because we all get the nice payday regardless.

Pretty sure if we would do something very simple like stop moving people around every 18-24 months people would understand wtf they’re doing right, wrong and how and why to make changes.

It is logical that there are Layoff comments on the Layoffs Board? Say it ain't so.
I find that hard to believe considering the mentality of the nutcases at CVX lmao!

How many GM’s does CNE have. I tried counting but ran out of fingers

I mean CVX could just sell off operatorship of everything and become a VC firm where they constantly squeeze blood from a turnip and then sell it off to a bag holder. Seems to be the direction they’re going if it weren’t for those pesky employees.

OP is some manager posting on the board to get ideas from us intelligent people. Then OP will pass these as his/her ideas.

Think about this, the whole strategy is around boosting stock price while reducing base salaries, whom do you think that benefits, do they think we are mo--ns?

Typical consultant view, why is G&A higher?

Think about it why do we need so many people, it’s to deal with our own complex processes.

why such outrageous overpaid and top heavy management? Why do HR, SCM, IT etc have any person above grade 26? It’s all empire building, we have a whole generation of “leaders” with no integrity looking out for No 1.

Who is really delivering value, are they getting better bonuses and promotions? A resounding no.

The consultants won’t tell you this stuff because they know who is signing their cheque.

We should figure out how we got here. Lack of performance management, wage inflation, processes that don’t deliver value compared to costs, consensus culture, cost discipline, etc. Mass layoffs ensure the least amount of change to the underlying cause, while affecting a lot of people. People make mistakes, let’s learn and be the best we can be.

The problem with benchmarking is you’re chasing some one else culture, and but thinking it’s simply structural. Instead of trying to make chevrons its best, you’re hoping by moving boxes around you magically will become something.

The problem is our culture, and in turn our leadership. The problem is, most of the LT got to where they are by mastering this culture, and know nothing else. Asking them to change the culture is asking them to abandon their professional identity. I’d wager they can’t even conceive of the true problems, because they can’t see them as such. “Our processes are our strength!” - clowns, the processes are the problems.

And we’ll export that dysfunction anywhere, including India. Ask RBU how the culture import has gone…

Rankings among peers shouldn't be some mandatory target to snap to but just a guide to keep you in check while still keep your culture. Paying and protecting the dividend should a top performance metric way before worrying about what XOM is doing.

We already lead our peers on most metrics. MW wants to double the stock price by delivering higher returns than the market index.

Interesting commentary

1. Chevron doesn't need to compete (not sure how that works in a commodity market)

2. Chevron costs aren't out of line (not sure how one can get to that conclusion. One doesn't need a fancy BCG study. Simply look at an AFE, unit F&D, or LOE/G&A benchmark to a upstream per).

3. Chevron should have picked different leaders/managers 5-10 years ago.

Does anyone have a real solution for where Chevron stands today?

As.someone in SCM I concur with the previous post for a 90% cut. The purple circle self.serving empires run by the greedy are harmful.

The first mistake we make is comparing ourselves to our peers. This is absurd to me. The real question we should be asking ourselves is, “Are we making a profit every year?” If so, then we’re doing well. If not, that might indicate a problem.

It seems to me that we’re making substantial profits. The problem is that instead of investing those profits in our people, our company, we’re foolishly trying to match what our peers are doing as well as stock buybacks.

This is incredibly short-sighted and not good for the company in the long run.

Good morning Mike, have all the consultants failed so you have resorted to this site to try and find a new way of working??

Hire people that actually know what they are doing, and what their teams are doing. Honestly - in 24 years, no manager I have worked with has ever actually known what their teams do, or how they do it. They manage compliance - that’s it.

Functions .... HR, Legal, SCM, Security and IT
They create internal business that has nothing to do with our business and keep each other employed on fake threats.
Cut them by 75-90% and watch.

Nahhhh just layoffs

1. driving staffing purely based on broad GA costs is a ridiculous driver, given there are a jillion ways to game that. Utilizing contractors/consultants etc hides true resource demand

2. identify WHY they are high. Use a scalpel, to trim, not an effing rusty chain saw.

But how does it resolve the issue of cost-noncompetitive that Chevron faces today?

Stop rewarding and possibly change out the board leadership who put us in this situation?