With all the negativity and lack of work for too many employees to do, I'm looking at other options now. Oil will be down for a while and activity will be slow. Company morale will continue to slide or stagnate. Can I give an expression of interest at any point in time? Or does it only apply when management designates?
Seems like it would be good for the company to run a perpetual EOI, so that people that get tired of it can quit at any point in time with severance. Good for people and company.
Your chance to volunteer to leave AND be paid to go came and went last year. COP has burned through way too much cash trying to stay afloat since then. Not just in all the severance costs they had to pay to cut $800MM out of opex. Ask an accountant how they There will be more severances...that's essentially guaranteed at this point. But don't make it known you want a package at this point. They will just try to wait you out. There's no desire to pay people to walk out the door if they have a way around it.
Severance is good for the company because the payment is a drop in the bucket. Severance is huge on a personal level, but for a multi billion dollar company that has a 30+ year horizon it's no big deal. The company would rather pay the severance and have the employee off the books. The reduced head count number helps the company show that it's moving in the right direction. Establishing a better production to head count ratio.
How is paying a huge severance to employees who want to leave good for the Company? It worked perfectly last year when it was a mass effort, but now we are in slow, steady drip mode. If you are open to a severance and don't need to keep working after, wait them out, but don't ask for severance unless there is an EOI. If you want to leave with severance, but need to keep working after, start getting your ducks in a row. Resume organized, LinkedIn profile polished, personal budget/finances in order. Start applying for other jobs and see what's out there. Worst case scenario, you transition to your next company without severance. Best case, you get severed but are able to time things well with a smooth, quick transition into your next role. Bottom line though: stop expecting the Company to take care of you and take care of yourself.
The question is clearly coming from a salaried employee. And simply quitting is only an option if you have something lined up on the back end.
If you want to quit, you can do so at any time. There is an at will clause. Packages were only offered to salaried employees. Just the relief of quitting would be enough of a bonus.