Thread regarding Phillips 66 layoffs

Sweeny Head Chopping Has Begun

I have not heard the totals but as expected the last Tuesday of the month to provide the hr admins time to process the paper work without any overtime pay, in time to ensure no insurance payments would be made in November.

Good strategy for head cutting, I suppose.

At Sweeny the first round started today 10/24.

The severance packages were very good.

The selection process is more difficult to define. It appears mid range salaried folks and lower senior management was the target

The actual layoff numbers in Sweeny are going to be misleading.

The best and brightest have been leaving like birds flying south.

Those that had a few hairs on their ba--s stuck it out for the severance packages, the more vulnerable with families to raise decided to leave as soon as possible three months ago.

The Houston Job Market is hot. Those with both hairy ba--s and excellent resumes are cleaning up with 25 to 30 percent raises in their new jobs and a very nice severance package from P66.

It is a big boy game. Nothing evil or underhanded is going on. Those that say so are crybabies with no grit in their craw.

P66 is restructuring out of necessity. They will incurr the loss of valuable talent during Transformation because their best people can make more elsewhere without worry or layoffs or working with the McKinsey kids looking over their shoulder with a clip board.

Sure change is difficult. It is also profitable for those with the resume to clean up in the white hot job market. We are primarily talking about elite engineers but the best technical minds in general will take a hundred grand or so from mother P66 as a parting gift and move on to a job that pays 25 to 40 percent more in a location that is not in the middle of nowhere.

For those with the resume and intestinal fortitude to step up and volunteer for the layoff, it is the best of times.

For those who are locked into the small town where they grew up, have minimally marketable job skills the Transformation is a nightmare.

I landed a job that payed 35% more, that provides significantly more growth potential and already had a strat date, knowing 10/25 had to be Dday. I volunteered to be laid off, accepted my severance pay and other parting gifts with a big smile, left with zero grudges and knowing that I was not being personally victimized.

It is called business.

Forget any loyalties you have to the company and put your life and your earnings into your own control.

P66 is just another job place, nothing more, nothing different, the leadership is doing what they feel will provide the best long term results for the company.

Time will tell if their calculations are correct. There will be some negative impacts from the loss of talent, but P66 is a historied company and will likely thrive in the future.

Be a grownup professional, stop whining and improve your position.

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| 4292 views | | 11 replies (last October 28, 2022) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1jn4hcds

11 replies (most recent on top)

I heard the final layoff tally at Sweeny was only 5 individuals.

All were senior people in or approaching retirement age.

One of the individuals had at least 40 years of experience with P66.

That would account to 120 weeks in severance pay, plus his 2022/23 VCIP.

Not a bad parting gift.

All 5 of the individuals were already planning on retirement in the near future.

No one knows what the second round of layoffs may involve, but for the most part P66 was very merciful with tje first round of layoffs in Sweeny.

I did not want to be layed off because I will miss my coworkers and I enjoyed my job.

However, I am glad that it was me instead of someone with kids in school or happened to be the sole bread winner for a family.

I was lucky to be prepared and I am grateful for the ample severance package the company provided.

Hopefully, the next round will likewise be as painless as possible.

Knowing the company is being forced by the world market to restructure, everyone in the refining industry should be preparing potentially layoff.

Expand your skillset, network and be prudent with your cash.

This is nothing new. The oil business has always been a bumpy road.

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Post ID: @3fro+1jn4hcds

Also, people who brag about how much money they have and how smart they are, usually aren’t very bright and don’t have much money.

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Post ID: @3kgc+1jn4hcds

I don’t think these last posts are real because there was no volunteering to be laid off(expressions of interest) and to collect the severance pay you have to sign a release of liability. If you want the severance, you sign the release.

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Post ID: @3bws+1jn4hcds

LA Da Daa,

My story is true and my own.

Everyone will likely have a different story based on how prepared they were for the layoff.

For me personally, I could have just retired. I am an old fa-t with nearly 40 years of experience. Further, I am an engineer with years of experience in the chemical industry.

For me, the Transformation was no big deal.

My wife likewise is a 35 plus year project manager with a large Houston firm.

We were set for life long before the P66 Transformation.

I simply took the situation and made it a profitable one for me.

Certain things happened leaving the company exposed and I was quick to respond. The result was a more positive outcome.

Again, don't be complacent. Assume you will be laid off and work the job market accordingly.

It is not that P66 is a bad company. They gave a great severance package and other perks because I was on top of the game and pointed out errors they had made enroute to laying me off.

Be smart, you have rights, there are things that both HR and Security do that are illegal.

I have no interest in legal matters, but I expect and received compensation for errors in the handling of my particular situation.

P66 did me right. I have no complaints.

If they reneige on their commitments, I will be back here on this site and more important ones with the news. In addition, my attorney will be in touch with P66 the second they fail to comply with their agreement. No issue with me, personal damages and grief accrue by the second and I have a well documented history of company induced grief.

This is deal: be a grownup, you are replaceable, if a cheaper alternative exists, the company will take it.

As will other companies. It is not personal. It is business. If you have a good resume, a better paying job in the Houston market is a simple matter. Everyone pays better. Just check, the pay is better almost every where.

Sweeny management are good people. They will do all they can to help you.

Go out get a few job options, play the game. Then decide whether Sweeny is right for you. If you get laid off, the decision is easy.

If you find a really nice option, volunteer for layoff, that makes it easy for the local management. They like you and it hurts them to lay people off. Volunteer, take the severance, the new better paying job and take the pressure off local management.

They are all good people. They don't won't to lay off locals or people with families.

They prefer old rich retirement people like me or young people with no kids or ties to the community.

If you are young, unmarried and not from the area you are a fool for being there. Sweeny is pays 15% or more less than the local market average and they have a geriatric view of work life balance.

Stop whining

Take control of your own life. The issue is not P66. They are just trying to adjust to the new market.

Do the same.

Get a few options and stop worrying.

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Post ID: @3psw+1jn4hcds

P66 is a good company.

I have nothing but positive to say about the way they handled my personal situation.

I cannot speak for others.

I can say the engineers at Sweeny have been leaving in droves. This is due to two factors:1) A great job market in the Houston and 2) The moral and work environment since the news of Transformation arrived.

Personally, I had calculated the date of terminations based on knowledge gained from previous similar experience and help my hand close to my chest.

That is simply playing smart. The individuals that lead Sweeny are good people. They did as they were commanded to do from HQ.

Whether or not the loss of talent which at Sweeny has been significant, the low morale and suspicion these exercises bring about in the work force are outweighed by the value of restructuring will be determined in the future.

The truth of is that the immediate matter of staff reduction is least painful in the engineering ranks where there are several jobs lying in wait for those that choose to make a move.

I did nothing unethical or even sneaky, I developed a poker player's hand of options and decided to wait on P66 to "Call".

I happened to be fortunate enough to walk away with a smile on my face. Just as others likely did.

Putting all your eggs in one basket is not good business in turbulent times.

Not maintaining a financial position that allows one to endure a few months of unemployment is likewise a poor strategy.

My advice to the prudent is to get your financial affairs in order and develop you employment options. Then when the time comes, you will be prepared.

Again, the attitude that prevails on this site in incorrect. P66 leadership is repositioning the company to what they calculate will be a stronger position. Doing so is a painful exercise that noone enjoys.

I did not take my layoff personally.

I respect and personally like the people that laid me off. They simply executed the commands that they were given.

I left with affection in my heart for my coworkers and superiors.

I had suspected my pay grade would be the first impacted and made myself a good contingency plan.

I got laid off, otherwise, I would have been content to retire from P66.

Again, I understand that engineers are currently better positioned for alternative job options than many of the other groups.

Engineers rarely stay in tje same location longer than 4 to 6 years. They become accustomed to these types of restructuring plans.

This particular event worked out well for me, but I had planned for it at least 6 months in advance.

As I stated above, it possible look at the situation as a means to improve your position. With good planning, being laid off does not have to be a negative experience.

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Post ID: @2ysh+1jn4hcds

I haven't met 20 engineers in the whole company that are worth a d@mn. Most are whiney kids that want more and to do less. I have no heartburn for the severance.

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Post ID: @2pws+1jn4hcds

Yeah, number I heard was around 200 for the whole company (granted was supposed to be higher but attrition has done a lot of the dirty work), which is only like 1.5%

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Post ID: @1deb+1jn4hcds

I hate to break it to you but we’re not laying off 10-25% lol. Not even close actually. You’re also wrong about the insurance and the term dates. So basically this whole post was for nothing other than belittling people.

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Post ID: @1yjk+1jn4hcds

Or maybe not a p66 employee at all since he didn’t know that no expressions of interest were allowed.

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Post ID: @kba+1jn4hcds

I agree. This person obviously considers himself to be a very good, cream of the crop engineer so the company is not going to do anything they can to keep him but make an offer he can’t refuse so it’ll be easy for him to leave? There’s no way this happened the way he said it did.

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Post ID: @zja+1jn4hcds

As I started reading this post thought I was going to like it but as I read more the less I liked and something didn’t make sense. Lots of people have wondered why no expressions of interest were offered and now you come along and say you were allowed to volunteer to be laid off and get your severance. I know of no one who was allowed to do that. They had to just quit. I think you’re just a company shill.

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Post ID: @hui+1jn4hcds

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