I have been through a dozen or more major layoffs during my 25 yrs in this Industry but this one is getting to me more than in the past: third night in a row still wide awake at 2 am. Maybe it is because this time I could have EOI out, as counter intuitive as that might seem, or maybe I am just getting old. I enjoy my work, and the booms are always fun, but the drama of the busts never ends. It seems so pointless after all these years, because every time we seem to be short of staff in just a few years time, and then run around figuring out how to train up the new crew. In the end would it not be cheaper just to run lean and hard during the booms and focus on staff retention and training during slow periods. Do we really just do this exercise again and again so that management can display their dedication to our short term investors? Sad really.
13 replies (most recent on top)
OP here. “Imagine yourself one year after retiring” (question posted below). Ya that was (is) my problem keeping me up at night, thinking forward my mind was still focused on professional goals rather than new avenues I could take in retirement. As luck would have it I was retained this round, but am still as conflicted as ever for sooner or later I need to move on and enjoy myself before I die. For those who say I am selfish for not just stepping aside now (for I agree there may be some with small children they need to feed), I can only say I am not sure we today stand in the same shoes and, even if we do, remember this day and judge yourself by the same metric in future. Transitions are hard, particularly retirement, because if one is smart they know it is just not worth ever having to be in a position where you need to try to claw it back. Like everything, technology continues to advance, and 5 years after stepping aside and sitting on a beach drinking margaritas you are then irrelevant. I have know many who tried the consulting game, and all who were successful admitted they put in longer hours than they did as an employee. I will retire in the next few years, but am just happier to take that jump at my own pace. I wish every one in R4 well... May the odds be forever in your favor.
16Pn4MRP I now I understand the need for an inclusion counselor!
This is the way.
This is why young people are leaving the company... Hard to feel optimistic about your career when 4/5 years has a layoff.
https://oilprice.com/Energy/Energy-General/Oil-Industry-Talent-Has-Fled-Or-Been-Fired-So-What-Comes-Next.amp.html
I like the quote from Chevron HR in this article: paraphrased something like “we are avoiding the mistakes of the past”... really, in what way? Hiring a few interns goes not change the overall message: this is not a stable career path.
Ditto on the 2:00 am but sometimes 3:00 am for me.
OP. I hear ya and feel your pain. I was a 30+ year employee. They talk about the value of the people yet they can't manage the business in a 5 year cycle and then they must mess with the people again. I remember going thru the first re-org. I heard all of the right things. I was thinking, wow, I like what I'm hearing. Now, I'm in a better position to see the lies and the BS. Don't get me wrong, I had a good career and worked with good people. Not all of it was bad but it's definitely gone off course which is why I took the EOI. OP.....ask yourself this. Do you believe it will get better? I wish my co-workers and friends well in the future but I'm happy to be done with the BS.
jsh+16Pn4MRP: “... save some opportunities for young people ...” — You might not have said this with malicious intent, but it sure is tone deaf, dude. Someone who is in the later half of their career and has made sacrifices for CVX is entitled to express the sentiments that the OP shared without a jack4$$ making the usual entitled comment telling us to move over for young people. What have YOU done to EARN that spot? Chew on that for a while.
OP: I really feel for you and am sending you a virtual hug. I have experienced similar feelings in the past couple of reorgs, so I do understand in my own way what it’s like to stay up with stressful thoughts running through one’s mind. For me this time is different — frankly, I no longer care about this organization the way I used to. When you kick a person enough times and purposefully create an environment of instability and encourage a Hunger Games-like approach to securing a position, eventually even the good little worker bees like me say “screw this” and stop caring. I now treat this job strictly as a means to an end — I just have to hold on long enough to accomplish MY goals, but I truly am not vested in what management wants. I keep up the facade because I need to get through Round 4, but I am definitely not buying into the BS they’re peddling. Now, I’m not suggesting that apathy is the way to go; I’m merely sharing that it’s where I’ve landed. This happened after multiple brutal reorgs where good, competent people were decimated, and top management exhibited stunningly short-sighted and truly incompetent decision-making. Do we really think we’re gonna achieve #OneTeam success where there is absolutely ZERO trust, and — let’s be honest — many of the employees who survive this reorg will be folks who embody anything BUT team-oriented behaviors? Like I said, apathy works for me at this stage of my career ... I am looking out for myself first and foremost. I wish you well, OP, and don’t let the circumstances we are experiencing adversely impact your health and well-being. No job is worth that. Carve out time for self-care, and hang in there.
To answer your question, no this was not necessary. This transformation / evolution effort could have been completed in month and impacted a fraction of the employees if Chevron had competent management.
I have seen multiple booms and bust over my career. The busts are never fun and layoffs are painful. However if I tried, I could not come up with a more painful, inefficient system then what our management came up with. Its shameful. Its embarrassing. The aftershocks of this year long disaster will be felt for many years to come.
No it’s not necessary.
In Europe some large companies move to short time working in times of economic stress. Employees keep money coming in and the companies retain their skills and knowledge. When things improve the companies easily come back to full production without the lag of rehiring.
It's a culture change but it’s not socialism it’s pragmatism in a time of crisis.
Perhaps we’ll get round to it next time.
Imagine yourself one year after retiring. Do you think you will be happy and content or longing to still be a part of the company. If you find yourself thinking of how to replace being part of the company with other activities then you are ready for retirement.
Go with your heart. If you like to leave, leave, then save some opportunities for young people.
This might be the best approach for investors. XOM, as you’re aware I presume, does things differently in this regard. But which company’s stock has performed better and attracted the adoration of analysts over the last decade?