IT, Finance and Commercial are expected to layoff ~300 people in 2 waves starting with IT in early Q3 2025. A majority of operational support for IT will be moved to outsourced providers. Major IT restructuring will be done using the “spans and layers” concept suggested by BCG to reduce management layers.
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@78c yes, if you’re in a support role or in a cost center, they will be dramatically reduced. It will happen in September and October.
@7j0 I'll take mine to Goodwill, too. I was thinking like I still worked there trying to protect them from misuse of their brand. Hahaha.
@7hh I have not received a box either or my personal items from my desk. It’s the CPChem way though. They have a great idea but execute it very poorly. How hard is to send out 130 boxes? How hard is to pack up personal belongings for 130 people. You knew this was happening and the people affected.
@7hs I donated all CPChem items to goodwill or threw them away.
We had previously warned HR and some Executive Vice Presidents (EVPs) about recklessness within the IT department and other departments, but no action was taken.
They have hired underqualified individuals for years who have made poor decisions, and now everyone is suffering the consequences.
We have proof that HR and the EVPs were aware of the problem.
Specifically, we have emails from July 19th of last year that shows an IT position with a pay grade of 87 did not even require a high school diploma!
We believe that everyone who is not being laid off should have to reapply for their job with proper qualifications!
This would also eliminate nepotism and the "buddy system".
We would like a link to upload the emails or a picture of them as proof.
To A m er, B et h, Ma rc, and others, please check your emails from last year.
@7hh Me neither on the laptop boxes. What do we do with our branded FREs? We shouldn't give them to Goodwill, but I don't want anything that says CPChem on it in my house.
Has any of the laid off people received a box to mail back their laptop and phone yet? It's been a week and still nothing.
@7f9…exactly, because as long as we’re fighting each other, then we can’t fight them and that’s what they want!
@7f9 correct. The blame is poor management and overspending. They knew last year they were in trouble and who they were going to cut. 2 more rounds.
@7f8 That’s cute but ROCE isn’t even the longest pole in the tent
@7b7 I think everyone here is forgetting who the actual problem is. It doesn’t surprise me to see everyone blame each other. That’s what upper management would’ve wanted. It’s the culture they created.
@7ej Spec Chem always has a better ROCE than PE
@7e2 Spare me the “high margin” bs. A $4/lb margin on 10,000 lbs per year is within the margin of error for PE. Go drop some pennies on the front step of the new HQ and tell me how you saved the company.
Any of the laid off people want to meet up this weekend to network and talk strategy? We’re in this together!
@7e7 high level feedback is you are sc--wed. We are protecting ourselves and our chronies.
@7e3 Correct me if I’m wrong, but isn’t Spec Chem on target to make more money than PE this year?
@7e3 Isn’t kind of freeing to have these discussions without fear of reprimand or limiting your career progression? Take note Pru Sak
@7e1 Here's what AI says about why you should have a lawyer review your severance paperwork and this is true:
Avoid signing away rights: Especially if you’re giving up the ability to sue or compete.
Negotiate better terms: Lawyers often uncover leverage points you didn’t know you had.
Protect future opportunities: Restrictive clauses can quietly sabotage your next chapter.
Don't be too trusting about what CPC will do if they think they can get away with it. It's insidious, all the time we spend celebrating our warm and fuzzy culture. I get su-ked into that sh*t because I'm naively sincere and a huge people person -- I love that sense of community, being true friends with my team, and everyone from the CEO on down pulling on the same side of the rope. "We're all in this together" has taken on a new meaning for me. CPC is just ugly base metal. They painted on the silver and gold -- remember the HQ ribbon cutting, the lofty speechifying, and the extravagant food? -- and we oooh and ahhh all the way out the door. It's all just manipulation. Maybe I'll learn.
@7dc any high level feedback?
@7e0 I’m triggered? I’m not the one ranting and cursing on an anonymous forum. You, like all the other self important people in Borger, are too d-mb to realize that CPChem only kept you because no one else wanted you and it wasn’t really hurting anyone while the company was doing well. The game has changed, the cards are stacked differently. The company is not doing well. They are canceling small dollar projects to expand capacity in profitable business lines … because they are broke. They’re getting rid of the Borger trucking fleet which negates any “competitive advantage” you had to justify the higher prices you charge for your one profitable product. They will chip away at you piece by piece just like they’ve been doing for years. Dwindling your special portfolio down to commodities that, with your cost structure, cannot be competitive. Instead of arguing with me, you should probably look for a job.
@7dm Thanks for giving us a lesson on revenue vs contribution margin (that’s sarcasm in case you don’t recognize it). But you’re wrong on so many levels. You are a pompous a-s that clearly doesn’t know what the other business lines are contributing. Obviously a pellet head who thinks only PE keeps the company afloat. Might want to take a look at what petchem contributes vs PE, you will be humbled. We are not solely a PE company contrary to your belief. I agree with previous commenter, go back to plant and just make pellets as you clearly don’t understand chain margin or contribution margin from other SBU’s
@7dc Would you care to share anything we should be looking for with the package? Thanks
@7dm You seem a bit triggered! You ok? Is it because you’re a ChemE that got an MBA and now think you know everything about business, yet you don’t? Look at the financials, Spec Chem is contributing much more than your purported $2MM. You are right on one thing, they do handle hazmat materials, but so what??? Should we as a company just produce only products that are easy, like PE. We’re a CHEMICAL company! PE thinks their sh-t don’t stink but are probably the most dysfunctional group in the whole company. You decided to build two more units in a down market and then state “oh sorry we didn’t anticipate the down market being this bad”. What the fu-k! You couldn’t see that India and china’s middle class was stagnant? Those are the people that should be on the street. Go back to the plant and make pellets like you were trained to do. Two years of business school can’t make up for being a d-mb a-s. People like you got us in this whole situation we’re in that we have to walk subject matter experts out the door but let people like you stay.
@7d0 Revenue is an not what you what you contributed to the bottom line. Spending $50MM+ to make $2M, which where Borger is, has always been a bad business model. Couple that with the risk that Borger presents to the company with the toxic products you handle, I guess you’re lucky that the business engineers are not that great. But we have tried to sell you before… writing is on the wall. Good luck to you!
@OP On another note to all my fellow recent discardees -- I had a lawyer review my severance paper work. I hope you do, too, if you haven't already. iCare my happy a**.
@7ac if had any brains, the company would have kept you.
Pellet Head fears no one! Bow down and kiss my glossy white head!!!
@7d0 Spec Chem meaning mostly Belgium. Borger has been a drag on Spec Chem from the beginning. The costs are too high, manufacturing is too unreliable, and management capability and knowledge has declined to a point where it’s probably unredeemable. Look at why the Spec Chem ROCE is in the teens while Belgium itself averages in the 30s. Congrats, you’re dragging the whole business unit down.
@7d0 You seem to have missed the core business of CPChem. The other product lines are allowed to hang around when PE assets are experiencing lower demand to help fill the gap. Never once have they filled a gap completely, only helped a little. They’re allowed to hang around as long as they don’t cause trouble, but Borger has been a problem and continues to get worse from a volume and environmental performance perspective, and let us not forget that one of the smallest plants leads the company in hotline calls, so obviously the people are horrid too. Nothing salvageable there, time to move on.
@7d0 You think your time isn’t coming? Does not matter the business line. The company as a whole is sunk. What you are saying is like having brand new tires on a vehicle that doesn’t run. NAO/PAO/Spec Chem didn’t bail anyone out. Did you miss the part about layoffs? If historical mattered no one would be leaving. In this instance it looks as though the majority is. The one fact remains. We work in a company that has made horrible decisions, and it is costing people their jobs. Evidence of these terrible decisions lay in the choice of leadership teams at all plants.
Out of curiosity if Spec Chem is so great why is it when their managers transfer the equivalent elsewhere is a superintendent role?
@7b7 There’s always been a lot of talk about how critical Borger is to P66. Reality check P66 gets by just fine when Borger is down which is often. They’ve got other outlets for sulfur. Is it less convenient? Sure. Is it a showstopper? Not even close.
What’s really going on is this: the relationship between Borger and the refinery is wearing thin. The way things are run over there isn’t doing anyone any favors, and it’s pushing the refinery to quietly explore other options. That’s already happening. The internal war between operations and the business at Borger is causing more damage than good.
From the inside, it feels like leadership lost the plot years ago. Big money went to HQ upgrades and splashy projects, while core sites like Borger were left running on yesterday’s budgets and broken processes. Now we’re watching good people even in critical roles walk out the door or get cut.
It’s not just Borger. The whole system is feeling it. The story being sold at the top doesn’t match what’s happening on the ground.
If you’re still betting everything on the idea that “they have to have us,” you’re not paying attention.
@7b7 Borger’s single digit ROCE numbers are hardly anything to write home about and have long been a drag on the overall ROCE for the Spec Chem business unit. Your biggest flex is that it’s actually positive right now, not that you’re bailing anyone out. Like bailing water from the Titanic with a spoon.
@7b6 Borger or Spec Chem is one of the groups bailing out the pellet heads. They are positive cash flow, near budget, and have decent return on capital employed. If you “shut” down Borger that will have a huge impact on P66 next door as they won’t have outlet for sulfur. Before you get all big and mighty, make sure you know what you’re talking about first!
@7a9
@7ag
Good question… why are you so triggered? That level of defensiveness in anonymous forum screams guilt and wrongdoing. Perhaps the TCEQ should look into the matter deeper. But I assume that Borger is on the chopping block for shutting down in the near future anyway. The revenue is too low, the cost is too high, the risk is too great and the performance is too poor to think it will make it much longer, and since the last two attempts to sell it failed, the math is pretty clear.
@7ag It’s true. The absolute ineptitude and incompetence surrounding controlling the incident was astounding. The steps taken to pass blame and cover up the seriousness of the incident are d-mbfounding. Over 50,000 lbs of toxic chemical released to the atmosphere while management stood around scratching their heads and having a measuring contest for days. THEN, unbelievably, the group responsible for the incident took a day to team build while the active leak was ongoing because “it was already planned”. A leak that could have been prevented by that same supervisor by simply requiring that the transfer was safely completed before letting shippers go home for the day. But instead of being a leader, the spineless weasel put the entire community in danger without any care or accountability for his lack of action.
@7a9 show the proof of the largest MESH release at Borger? Ask the employees how long it went on.
Look at the incident report, the employee doing the incident investigation knew enough to make copies because LT changed it.
It went on long enough that the shipping superintendent took a team building day off of during it to get stuck in an escape room and come back the next day and still went on.
How about the managers that said activate the PMV while it was frozen then did not understand why it was twisted and couldn’t close it?
Then the blame game about how the refinery is the one who sent water over without their knowledge. When it was our supervisors who said send it.
They put many lives at risk, and it was downplayed from
What it was.
My question is why does that trigger you so bad?
@7aa My, my, my… HR is getting so angry now. It’s unbecoming really.
@7ab you are definitely not one of the intelligent ones. No one likes sore loosers. Just move on.
@7a6 OMG I wish there was a laughing emoji to put on your comment- you’re not smart- you’re the ignorant one- and I have an idea as to who this is since your name has been mentioned on here and you’re the sc-m! Here’s to hoping you get yours!