Thread regarding Occidental Petroleum Corp. layoffs

So the company gave you only 3 days at the office and 1.5 days at home and still you complain. Next thing you know you will want the same pay for 3 days at home and no days in the office. They need a good ole fashioned lay-off to put you and others like you in your place. You know like calling you all out to the greenway courtyard and then announcing names of people that get to keep their jobs. That will build your character.

To the guy commenting below, go ahead and retire already my generation is so tired of old timers like you and your ways of thinking. Everyone I know that does WFH is a better employee for it. No commute and no BS that is everywhere in the office, with pointless meetings and 2 hours commuting each day.

People who believe that this work from home should be continued in the Oxy environment more than 1 to 2 days a week are professionally immature.

I am the author of the Inc. article and I just happened to stumble upon your discussion/debate. Really interesting! Didn't everyone just prove over the past 18 months that -- for most jobs -- not for every job, but for most -- they can be done just as well remotely? And, in some (many?) cases, even MORE effectively...without having to deal with all the interruptions, distractions, and useless meetings? Not to mention the hundreds of hours wasted commuting? Just something to think about...with an open mind and an open heart...and without the attitude and the arrogance. It's a new world out there; those companies and leaders who fail to realize this do so at their own peril.

How do you know I am not Him?

To the poster below, we don’t have to choose because YOU do not call the shots.

You young workers think you are more important than you are in reality. I would rather hire some 80 year old with a memory and engrained technical skills and work ethic than you spoiled folks. Go away and come back once you can act in a mature manner. Question for you. Would you rather quit to show the company who is boss or go back to the old work schedule? Think carefully because jobs, compensation, and benefits like what Oxy has to offer are very rare.

No, it will never go back to the way it was. The poster below is clearly some pi---d off middle level micromanager who doesn’t like not being able to micromanage in person.

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Just wait. Up next is the vaccine mandate if you are medically eligible. Then next is back in the office 3 days a week. Then Mondays will be added at the office followed by half of the Friday’s. You will probably keep the 9/80 in the end. So in about a year you will be back to normal. If you find you can’t live with it then go find another company to whine at you spoiled common worker.

“ In the oil industry professionals need to be in at the office to interface directly in real time and in person with other project team members. If you don’t see it this way then you are the one who needs to change by finding another employer.”

Sounds like a dinosaur on the verge of extinction. Do us all a favor and go quietly into the night without interfering with our ability to wfa

Last poster. You are telling us all you are not a people person since you view a conference room meeting as full of social distractions. You would be a great case study for HR on how to spot a person who is not a team player.

@zpj Your statement is generic enough that it sounds like you’re not actually a technical professional.
Provide an example that you have experienced of how project team members in our company need to be in the office to interface directly in real time and in person with other project team members, that can’t be done even more effectively with Teams. (which is what this long term o&g industry professional has been doing quite effectively for 1.5 years now). I’ve been sitting in brain storming and trouble shooting sessions on Teams where everyone can actually think much more strategically and effectively when they’re in their own space and without the social distractions of sitting in a conference room. And we can all share information more easily when we can all share our screens so quickly.

I have no idea if WFA is really in our future, but I thoroughly enjoy how merely discussing it triggers hostility in some people. Good times.

Fewer managers may be required but 40 employees per manager or supervisor is too high. 20 is probably optimum depending on the experience level of the senior employees.

I agree with the below on some jobs are more aligned with WFH than others. One downside for those wanting to climb the management ladder is that in the future most likely fewer managers will be needed. You could have a manager with 40 people under them to direct manage with the help of a couple of admins and HR reps. I think the days of people managing 5-6 people may go to the wayside, so in the end the younger people will not have as many opportunities to climb the corporate ladder. But that is just my opinion.

OP

Work from home is great for a technician typing data into spreadsheets. In the oil industry professionals need to be in at the office to interface directly in real time and in person with other project team members. If you don’t see it this way then you are the one who needs to change by finding another employer.