Thread regarding Occidental Petroleum Corp. layoffs

Get back, get back, get back to where you once belonged.

Back in 2020 I would of never dreamed we would be WFH two days a week now in 2026. Even if we have to come back into the office pre-covid hours it has been a nice run. One thing management needs to realize is that there needs to be some type of gradual merge back to pre-covid hours. It would be one thing if we had of went back to pre-covid hours when we returned to the office, but since it has been nearly 6 years employees need to be brought back in gradually, so they can deal with family commitments they have in place now. There is a whole group of employees that have never worked any other schedule than the current schedule. It will be a shock to many, byt I am sure everyone will adjust.

RJ maybe, but not VH.

@vh FYI - VH and RJ actually go to the office on Mondays and Fridays.

I doubt RJ will want to start as CEO and immediately take away hybrid. It’s a sure way to have everyone dislike you right from the start.

You all need to get back on the old 9/80 schedule.

Yeah, hopefully RJ lives far so he would wanna keep WFH. I feel myself working better at home with bo disturbance from friends at work. VH probably lives far in galveston so make sense she wants to keep it

@tt -- Pretty easy to complain. Oxy's office location is awful, the traffic gets more miserable every year, and there is no Metro park-and-ride option to avoid it. The new location will be even worse. I like the company, my coworkers, and my job, but WFH makes dealing with the commute bearable. If that goes away, I will start looking for another job, even if it involves a pay cut.

@r8 I’m thinking that will happen once the new Houston office is constructed. No way we’re spending all this money for folks to occupy that space only three days a week. The hybrid schedule is nice, and I don’t the work product OVERALL has suffered (there’s obviously bad apples). But I can’t imagine that money is going to be spent and the same schedule remain.

I think you could be correct about work Fridays still being a WFH day. So seven days in office during the ten day pay period, for those who work the 9/80 schedule. I’m not sure how any reasonable person can complain about that.

@q1 Quite the contrary. RJ will be in a hurry to put his stamp on OXY operations. Plan on WFH ending and being in the office at least 8 days per pay period. It's possible he will allow the Friday to be WFH.

@q1+1kmnv6jm3 I remember VH said as long as we keep production going WFH will stay, i think RJ will have the process, why stop something that is still working

@pv I think hybrid will be here for a while yet. I doubt RJ wants to start off his tenure with such an unpopular choice of stopping the hybrid schedule. Maybe Vicki will do it before she leaves, but I doubt that as well. It makes more sense to wait until employees are consolidated in the Houston offices and then stop it.

@pk it’s got end sometime. RJ will be ending it.

Please keep hybrid work schedule!

Vicki has been the best thing ever to happen to Oxy in my opinion. I felt sad that she is retiring soon but understand she has to retire one day and enjoy the fruitage of her hard work for the past 4 decades. VH brought stability to Oxy compared to other oil and gas companies that are prone to layoffs. One of the primary reason l joined Oxy was because of the stability that it offers. I have worked in two other oil companies that regularly lay off employees. I am not sure if RJ will follow the same compassionate policy that VH has for Oxy’s employees and welfare. Time will tell if he will bow to pressure from Shareholders. VH made it clear each time she is not interested in laying off employees which enable us to focus on our jobs rather than checking the price of oil each week. Since l joined Oxy, l don’t monitor the price of oil anymore. Thanks Vicki for all you did for Oxy to grow production and the stability you brought to Oxy. You are one of the best CEO’s if not the best in the oil and gas industry that truly cares for her employees.

From Barron’s:

Occidental’s stock, however, has been one of the worst performers in the State Street Energy Select SPDR exchange-traded fund since she became CEO in April 2016. Occidental’s shares are down 16% since then, third worst in the 23-stock index.

…

Hollub was regarded as a talented petroleum engineer but she was less astute as a financial manager.

One could say having happy and motivated employees is one of the most important things a CEO can be known for. Employees that are motivated will make the company better and contribute to the bottomline. In that area I have been more than happy with VH, and having worked at APC and OXY, VH is far better than RW ever was. Out of all the years I worked at APC I can't remember talking to RW once, but since I have been at Oxy I have talked to VH more than once and she has visited with our team for presentations on what we were doing. Maybe some of the deals did not work out as they should, but she was not afraid to take the chance. For me Oxy has been a much better place to end up as opposed to Chevron. After seeing how Chevron and Exxon treat their employees the last few years I feel blessed to of ended up with Oxy as my employer. I wish nothing but the best for VH in retirement.

Vicki is awesome! I wish her all the best in her retirement. In sports people refer to great managers as “players coach”. As a long time employee I recognize Vicki as a “ players coach”. She always looked out for the employees. It’s a refreshing change from those in the executive suite who layoff 33% every downturn. I’m not sure people at OXY really appreciate her.

I’ve worked years and years for RJ I know him well. We expect an RTO mandate followed with efficiency efforts.

Layoffs a-coming. That's what I would have done 10 years ago. Too much dead weight

@ax+1kmnv6jm3 that's what I wanna know too

Anyone know if RJ is as nice as Vicki

Issue was not APC, it was CrapRock

Vicki is a very nice person and competent at her profession. It is too bad the APC acquisition was not good for the company. Otherwise she would have been great.

Vicki was good for employees. No layoffs. But awful for the company in general. Set the company back. History won’t be kind to her. Happy to see her out of the picture.