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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What I think is incredible is that this is the first time the Supply GM has been called out in this forum. The man lives to be a puppet master over other people’s lives. Here’s a job you never asked for — what’s that? You turn it down?? You’ll never have a career trajectory like before bc I’m on the TSC and I “put my neck out there for you”.
Supply Chain hasn’t spoken up in this thread because they have lived under a regime of fear for years and they know they are at risk given the market conditions. Just like HR - it’s time to call a spade, a spade.
@ct0 Well, I can say this. An EEOC complaint should be filed against the Supply Chain GM. He had the audacity that tell his employees in a staff meeting that with the upcoming layoffs they should also look at the “human factors” of who their going terminate: he proceeded to say they should target retirement age employees, employees who have spouses with good paying jobs and employees who’s parents may be independently wealthy.
The latter two, ok, you’re a di-k, but the first??? That’s blatantly illegal! Did you not take the training San Chez??? He called out two specific ladies in customer service that are of the retirement age but are rock stars in their jobs. Like really damn good! Yet you, San Chez thinks it’s ok to terminate them because of their age?? Did you ever think that maybe they continue to work for reasons you don’t understand or know and are not ready or able to retire yet? However, you, my friend are making that decision for them?? This isillegal and wrong on so many levels. Did you not pay attention to the training???
San Chez is a part of the TSC and he’s making decisions on people’s livelihoods based off his own biased opinions.
Pru Sak and Bick Ett, you better notice what your underling is coaching to his people to do with the next round of layoffs. This is ILLEGAL and you two are letting him run rouge based on his own biased opinions. This makes you complicit and I don’t need to tell you what that means from a legal perspective . Better start hiding your assets if you let this fool continue…
@ct3 Lots of people at CPChem want to be "in charge," but almost no one's willing to lead.
@cha the ROI on business and digital transformation has obviously been negative. Still with all that money reinvested into manufacturing it’s the mo--ns at the helm that steered this car into the wall. No matter how much we made, reinvested, etc. You cant out work all these bad decisions.
@c75 someone has to file the eeoc complaint. I know I am gathering my info to do so. The more of us that do the more they will see it isn’t just one.
This is a corrupt company that hasn’t behaved responsibly for a long time now. They need to be held accountable.
A Quick look on linked in and looking at years of service will tell you quickly how many were over 40.
@cfn Agreed! What was the ROI on BT/DT?? What did we get out of it? Put that money towards manufacturing to make more product for the business lines!
@ccz Petchem business is simple enough to run on Excel. Time to go back to its core.
@c72 Ok Boomer. Software development company? Are you that stupid? I guess all other S&P 500 companies that have nothing to do with IT are just d-mb for investing in the future. Just become a dinosaur like blockbuster while Netflix passes you by. Good luck finding a job where you can still use a typewriter lol.
@c72 "We were humanely fed, and humanely executed." Well said. That's some cold-hearted sh-t.
@c72 Could you share the actual percentage of the people from your group that were over 40 that were laid off? I'm considering filing an EEOC complaint as none of us waived our right to do so by signing our severance agreement. I'm not looking for any monetary settlement, I just want CPChem to be investigated for discriminatory practices. I'm asking because I was not in the IT group so I can't see their actual percentage, but I can see it in from my business unit and it was definitely age discrimination. Thank you
@c57 We were humanely fed, and humanely executed. What more could you ask for?
The strategy is super clear now if you will just see. They needed to pay back the company for the BT/DT excesses of the last 4 years that brought no recordable dollars saved through pretending CPChem is a software development company rather than a chemical company. I never once heard the word "plastic" used in all that time. Double budgets for years, millions spent in chase of imaginary Value $$$. So, rather than saying it was a failure, it has been spun into this. Layoff the oldest workers, who coincidentally made bigger bucks due to tenure. Everyone over 59 was severed except for 1, who coincidentally NEVER gets into trouble even though many many HR complaints, unethical behaviour. Just one the LT has kinship with. The rib, it seems they needed to create a crisis of confidence because everyone who knew anything were handed their walking papers.
@c3m Can a company lay off employees and retain its "caring by choice" culture? It might be possible if they:
-- Are transparent and truthful about the economic reasons behind the decision, how they are making the decisions about the lay-offs and how they intend to prevent further layoffs
-- Be accountable to employees for their decisions
--Treat employees compassionately -- those being laid off and those keeping their jobs
-- Communicate truthfully and fully with employees and do anything else possible to bring chaos and uncertainty to a close
--Don't lavishly and with fanfare celebrate the opening of a multi-million dollar new building two weeks before the axe falls
Without transparency and communication at the LT/LTE level, an informal grapevine fills the void. It's textbook and predictable.
@c2q…says the person who also visits and comments on the site! 🤣
@c2q Tou sound like a person from PE. Thanks for what you’ve done to the company.
@c2q No, I think the number of hits and comments on this website represent that employees really bought into the “caring by choice” culture and really loved this company. They are heartbroken now finding out it was all a front and a bunch of BS! Pru Sak and all the LT should be ashamed for continuing to preach about culture when you just destroyed it in a few months. It’s always been smoke and mirrors and it’s just now coming to light.
@c16 I think the number of hits on this thread tells a story of people who look at the thread just to see what stupid gossip accusations and whining was posted today- "hey, don bob, grab a coffee and your pitchfork, some idi*t posted on the website!!"
AI is hand picked to replace the finance teams. It makes sense when you look at what finance depts really do. So why outsource IT? You would’ve thought they’d have the highest impact on the future. Wild.
The rumor mill is ela HR and can’t even field got told to stay away from each other at HQ. Who knows what the truth is but it’s bound to have something behind it.
And to the comment below about tons of companies having lay offs. How many just built a brand new facility with pickleball court?
Totally agree with how bad the problem is based on the activity of this site.
what an epic thread
130k views, 500+ replies.
i dont think any thread on thelayoff dot com comes even close
that only tells you about the depth of our problem
@ber absolutely fiction. For CPChems size and status among its peers. This by no means includes DOW, BASF, Monsanto size companies. So what does it matter is CPChem id 1st among its third tier competition? It gets somebody's name on a list of winners somewhere but this vaulted status does absolutely nothing else.
@b82
It’s not just chemicals, many industries doing layoffs.
Performance Pipe ok?
@ber Not a fiction if you win Powerball.
@bdc About a year ago or so, we needed to come up with $600MM in savings to funnel those funds into becoming "the best chemical company in the world." Was that fiction?
A walk with such bricks is doomed to fall apart.
AI is super expensive. And, you don't have the talent to grow your own. What happened to saving $300MM, $450MM and $600MM in 3 years? You cannot do both. No way, no how, not even with the smartest people in the world contracted through LTI for $9 bucks an hour. Y'all should seriously get back in your lanes.
@b86 AI is going to radically change the game. In the past, a company's cost centers were hit hard and profit centers were mostly left intact. But if you can replace workers with AI even in profit centers, those employees will be laid off as well, representing huge savings in loaded labor, training, etc. A company's perception of what job duties can be outsourced or off-shored is also changing. The concept of company loyalty is becoming limited to those on the core leadership team. Companies can we-ponize layoffs with increasing impunity by targeting people who aren't a "good fit" for the culture and those considered to be threats to a culture of worker conformity and subservience. Given that CPChem is a JV owned by powerful parents, even the core leadership team may not have a complete picture of what changes are coming. Nobody can afford to be smug.
@axb Agree...it's not necessary to attack ones choice of college. That is not part of the problem.
@b82 yeah other companies are laying off. Bet they don’t lay off all their IT, commercial , and finance.
They’ll get rid of bloat and offer packages.
These Chevron Phillips team goes against the grain all the time.
Houston, we have a problem…
Today ConocoPhillips says it will lay off up to 25% of its workforce. Add this to 2025 layoffs with Chevron, Lyondell, BP, Shell, Apache, Southwest Key Programs, Inc, Turner Industries, and Equus.
CPChem, just another brick in the wall.
@az5 Without a doubt Engineering/Finance/Procurement. Rumor is by end of September. Remember, three areas of focus: outsourcing, centralizing, and collapsing layers (Spans & Layers).
@az5 , this Friday; your department; no soup for you! NEXT.
Anyone know when the next round of layoffs will be and what dept they are going to target next?
@atr
I also agree that Pru Sak is very capable. Hopefully he has the marbles to get rid of people not qualified for their positions and replacing them immediately. The review should start from the top down. The top down review should also include identifying madeup BS roles that do not make or save any money.Everybody knows what roles these are. Some are made up for ex plant managers (or other plant level supervisor roles) as a nice way to tell them this is as high as you are going to make. Meanwhile they continue to milk the cow for years (maybe over a decade) and make ZERO contributions. What a deal. At least they will get to spend a lot of quality time with their family and get to go to all his sons baseball games.
@atr
Great post.
I wonder if the current CIOs salary is high enough to attract qualified top talent. If it is then it's a double shame on you. One for selecting a non qualified individual. And the other for over compensating.
@av7 On the surface, I don't believe you can 100% link incompetence to where someone got a degree. (Hold on, I'm not finished yet.) One of the smartest people I've ever met didn't have a degree. And some of the biggest id--ts and a holes I met at CPChem have degrees from respected and established universities. If you're working full time while rising through the company ranks, you might have fewer options to get a degree. BUT, no matter where anyone in positions of relative power at CPChem matriculated, CPChem is widely accepting of two rather unscrupulous and irresponsible practices: nepotism and putting unqualified or under-qualified employees in positions for which specialized skills and specific training and experience are required. (CPChem laughably calls that "a growth opportunity.") And of course, these issues converge into unqualified friends and relatives being hired or promoted over qualified people for important positions. There are many highly qualified, exceptional, even inspiring people at CPChem, and I've met them, too. But it's the others who are going to destroy the company. Their insecurity, narcissism, greed for power, and, in some cases general aholery, will prevent them from making the tough and unselfish decisions required. There's nothing you as an employee can say or do to help influence these "leaders" to adopt more reputable practices or more professional standards. Zip, zed, zero. They've made the decisions. It's all over but the crying.
I’ve been through several of these with the company and they were really brutal this time. I know of many that would have elected to retire and get the severance and not had to face the negative connotations of being layed off. Even if the result is the same for the company, it is not the same to the employee. This is what was done in the past. This time they didn’t even have the ba--s to do it face to face. It was a non compassionate zoom call!!!! CPChem is not the company I started with, HR and senior management have evolved into arrogant a--holes!
@atr…Wow, University of Phoenix…are you serious?! Now that actually explains a lot. No wonder she acts like such a nice-nasty bully, sounds like it comes from low self-esteem!
@atr Agreed. If there is no change to the LT soon there will be a mutiny on his hands.
It’s time for our illustrious CEO to clean house. He’s losing his biggest asset which is the people who work there and he’s losing sight of that. You lose the experience and people that make your company run, you’re sc--wed! The town hall was a disaster! Your CIO has an accounting degree from Stephen F Austin! Pru Sak, clearly she’s not qualified to run a billion dollar company technology group, yet you put her front and center on the town hall. That was an absolute disaster ! Yet you had the foresight not to put up your SVP HR and Manufacturing lovebirds. You have an HR SVP with a university of phoenix degree. You have a GM of supply chain that never ran a supply chain organization before. C’mon Pru Sak, get more qualified people to run your company as there are thousands of more qualified people than these clowns. These people are bringing the company down and until you actually step up and make a change at the very top, none of the “working people” will trust a thing you say. Pay the money and bring in experts that actually know what they are doing. Otherwise you’re throwing good money for bad decisions. Laying off people for the bad decisions your LT made/make is not a good look. The pressure is on you now Pru Sak to see what kind of leader you are. If you don’t act now, you’ll be on the street with the rest of one’s you laid off as the parents won’t put up with this any longer. I’ll put it into football terms for you, if you’re team su-ks, you get rid of the OC and DC and get better ones. You hope this will work and keep your job. You’re a smart guy Pru Sak, you know what you need to do, so do it. You can’t cut the people doing the actual work and making you money and keep your LT in tact. The optics aren’t good and you know this. Do what’s right Ste Ve