End of an Era - ABU IT - post regarding Chevron Corp. layoffs

End of an Era - ABU IT

Today, the last few remaining engineers in ABU IT were stood down, following the end of their transition roles.

This brings to an end a horribly protracted period of uncertainty that started early in 2024 with McKinsey moving into 1TE to try and find ways for ABU to reduce costs, which than spiralled into one of the most disorganised and chaotic re-orgs many have ever witnessed. It finally ended with respected and talented veterans of the company not only being notified of their impending termination in June, but having to awkwardly serve out several months training their replacements in India.

Almost two years later from when rumours of layoffs began circulating in earnest, they are now complete.

ABU IT is now half of what it was, barely 50 people for a business unit that generates a third of the company’s revenue. A business unit that extracts the state’s natural resources for profit whilst seeking to give back as little as possible.

All that remains now of the IT teams that helped build two of Chevron’s most complex facilities are a handful of telecoms/PCN people, the skeletal remains of data and insights, some project managing paper-pushing types, digital core, and some of the most ineffectual and disengaged middle managers and hi-pots imaginable.

There is no longer a single software or data engineer in ABU.

Chevron are doomed to fail.

#Company #Culture #EmployeeRelations #Layoffs #Reorganization

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15 replies (most recent on top)

This is ridiculous! Who will make a ticket for everything and have to consult someone for every single problem? What are they just going to go straight to one person who can solve computer problems? What about the 10 little comments added by 10 different people to the ticket before it's resolved? Who will do that?

Its sad to see how bad it's become. The downward spiral started with the last re-org and I really thought it couldn't get any worse. It gets pretty tiring being the middleman to non-IT between cr-ppy outsourced/now insourced work and poor management decisions that lead us here.

Certainly seems to get no sign of morale recovering in the ABU. Nor any attempts by management to raise morale either.

@ff that’s because MK was an id1ot who did everything his leaders and consultants asked him to do and couldn’t think for himself and for Chevron long term. It’s sad that he’s been in that role for so long and drove ABU IS to the ground. The only relief that ABU had was when AC came in and actually understood the work that was going on, protected what was important and advocated for the people locally. It’s also sad the the only advocate for ABU IS employees was an expat and the local manager didn’t care to fight for what was logical, decided to outsource all of it, save a few program managers.

I worked with some of the ABU IT Guys on a few projects over the years.
They were 100% some of the best technical IT guys in the company. The fact that CVX doesn't value that is sad.

ABU IT Management on the other hand...

The biggest problem with the IT org is the lack of decision making skills in the management. Too many managers have been promoted beyond their ability and now they are in jobs they do not understand how to maximize productivity. They do not understand how to implement the ideas that will improve operations and customer service. Outsourcing is a good cost improvement but the managers implementing the outsourcing do not have the skill to maximize the value creation. Chevron needs to outsource the IT managers to a different company than the IT workers so Chevron can improve the workflows to maximize value and productivity.

ABU IT shouldn’t have outsourced all of its real work to LTI several years ago if they wanted to continue to have jobs.

IT as a function and industry is literally responsible for digging its own grave and that of many others. By definition everything you do enables offshoring. Crikey!!

Chevron is the only company that gives IT so much clout, IT is a joke and hasnt delivered jack. Shell and XOM treat IT like the back office clown show it is.

D-mbo Blosser and his Chairmans award lol biggest jokers in the co

@bc for FY23-24, Chevron Australia’s income was $19.4b, so closer to 10%. Maybe OP meant one third of upstream revenue?

Umm, our Australia revenue last year was about US$10B of a global total of $193B so maybe 5%, not one third. But your points about reductions are well put.

Did you work in IT perhaps?

I am sure the Indians will be over achieving performers for the Chevron field offices. They have do much oil field experience they will always know what to do and when to do it 😳

@a7 a7 here - absolutely spot-on post

Absolutely post. The place has lost its way, and even people in local leadership positions can no longer muster the will to defend the indefensible - even they have been "lost". Chevron is a guest in this country with one of the few remaining benefits the country actually sees for the plunder being high paid, high skill jobs in-country. Now even that is being taken away. Something's got to give, and it is a matter of time before an incident (God forbid - but we all know we are sleep-walking into it) that can be pinned on the cuts, then Chevron's social license to operate here is on thin ice.

Sad to hear this, truly. There is no longer any integrity, morals or empathy in large scale businesses. But as bad as that is, these decisions are actually bad for the business they strive so ruthlessly to make ever more profitable. Its combination of foolish ideas and poor thinking driven by greed. When the top 10 persons in leadership of a large corporation are making well over 100 million in total compensation; we should have genius level decision making, home runs should be the norm, yet they have a losing record. The BOD is no better.

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End of an Era - ABU IT

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