Thread regarding Marathon Oil Corp. layoffs

I see lots of anxiety and employees that are afraid on this site. I'm sure the workload is heavy now since all the layoffs and you feel betrayed trying to work through all the negativity within the company. Believe me, if you get released this year, it will be stressful for only a short time and then you will put MOC behind you. Our prayers are with you.

I've had some really lousy jobs in my life, not all in the energy sector. I've seen first hand hostile takeovers, and bankruptcies. Through all of the "hard times" I've been witness to employee morale getting really bad. BUT, through all of those "hard times", I've been witness to executive management leading the way with personal sacrifices, massive pay cuts, turning bonuses back to the company, and most importantly, simple, transparent honesty, EXCEPT, with this company. Take a stroll through most marathon offices and you'll see closed office doors, private meetings, and a get a general feeling of mistrust for management.

It's no secret that employee morale is at an all time low.

Here's a few tips to executives, if any of you are listening at all......

1. Open the doors and spread the news of what you are doing, be open, honest and transparent. It may not be anyone's business but yours about your salary or bonus, but employees NEED to know that the executive team isn't cutting the throats of the employees and that you are sacrificing with us. ALL of the multi-million dollar salaries and bonuses MUST stop. It's hard for us employees to empathize with someone making 11+ million dollars per year and we're being told to "cut every corner", "watch every penny", and ask "why,why,why" . When we are getting the "crumbs off the table". Most of us could retire and live really good for a long long time on just 1 month of that nearly a million dollars a month salary. That's more than 10 YEARS of salary to a lot of us.

2. Be honest and direct, when asked a question, do not respond with 10 minutes of bull***t. Give a honest, direct, concise answer.

3. Eliminate the TONS of overly self regulating policies, and unnecessary programs, KMS, ( we are NOT a PSM facility), just stop the bull***t.

LOL @FqBnUUF-4rut. There is no way that the person who started this post is with HR at MRO. HR would NEVER admit there is a problem so they would never put that title.

The BOD is a joke, overpaid, and treated like royalty being flown in on the corporate jet for board meetings. They should definitely take a pay cut but unfortunately, that wouldn't make a dent compared to the potential we could save with VP pay cuts. Combined board makes 1.3 million (+1.4 million im stock, bUT that is when it was was more tHan 8/share). Between Lee, JR, Sylvia, Mitch and Lance, their total exec comp is $27.9 million in 2014! Yes, that is $27.9 for 5 people(including bonus, stock, othe comps). We'll know if it changed any for 2015 when the 10k comes out. But either way, they should sacrifice something! It is their decisions along with the board who helped put MRO in the situation as well as not preparing MRO for the future.

For those left at the company, hold on, 2016 is going to be a bumpy ride. Do the best you can with what you have and where you have landed in the new org. Try to stay positive...not for them (the comany), but for your sanity. You don't want to let the extra stress take years off your life, MRO isn't worth that. Do the best you can, earn the paycheck you get and pray things turn around. All the best to everyone.

I believe you are still with the Company. HR has a chalkboard on their floor and these same types of questions are written on the board with this same exact wording including the "Go...."

I accept your response openly and do understand where you are with the organization. "We" was meant to be everyone in the energy sector. I do feel your anguish and fear of the unknown and understand where you are at this point, none of us are secure at this time. I do pray for those that are going through these uncertain days. Accept my apology.

@FqBnUUF-3jss - I am confused. Your first sentence states "we are in critical survival stage." Your last sentence states, "I was let go in the first round." Knowing whether you're still with the company or not would help put your comments into context. For the sake of this response, I'm going to assume you were released in February.

Your post seems to assume that those of us that are still with the company have faired better than those that were let go. From my vantage point, I see several benefits for those were let go in February: oil prices were higher, stock price was higher, and Termination Assistance Plan was more generous. This means people left with more money in their pocket, LTIP that was actually worth something, and entered an O&G job market that was stronger than it is today. While I think you were attempting to be encouraging, I found your post to be condescending, full of faulty assumptions, and completely oblivious to the mental, emotional, and financial toll that current MRO employees continue to face! If you're no longer with the company, be thankful for that, say a prayer for those that remain, and post no more! That would really be helpful.

@fqbnuff-1qyt - nail on the head! BOD and current executive committee are purveyors of the incredible value destruction and demise of a great company. All should be fired if not jailed for fiduciary mismanagement ... unfortunately neither stupidity nor arrogance are crimes! Ohhh for Elliot Management to step in with some investor activism and shake things up!

Many good points already stated here. Unfortunately, I'm not sure Executive Management is listening. Pay cuts across the board is a start in lieu of further layoffs. However, higher percentage pay cuts should hit higher grades and management. Additionally, there should be a hiring freeze, no exceptions. We just went through a layoff and restructuring yet we are still hiring to staff the new business units. It's called planning and foresight folks. You do not do a layoff and a restructuring unless you already have the people in place to manage these new business units. Finally, Board and exec salary plus benefits should be scrutinized given the asset fire sale that has taken place recently. Business 101 teaches you not to put all of your eggs in one basket and we have done just that. Certainly some of those assets may have been appropriate to sell. But at these prices? You sell high buy low, not the other way around. #racecarmechanic

We are in a critical survival stage at this point. All of the majors are hurting financially, and yes it trickles down to the middle class workers who pay the price for all upper management decisions, unfortunately. The good news is that you have a job, for now, and all this bickering and finger pointing is useless. Put your heads together and come up with a working solution for your part of the asset and show the company you care at your level and want to work together as a team. Keep your head up and try to be positive. The other side of the coin is not pretty. Take a good hard look at the economy and be willing to take a 20-25% pay cut until the industry rebounds. Maybe your own personal financial decisions need to be readjusted to survive. Take a good look at your spouse and children who depend on you for survival and take on a new attitude with the company.

I was let go in the first round and was blessed with another job and didn't see my family suffer.

This is what happens when none of your managers have any experience running a business. Non-technical Mid-level managers don't know how to filter the bullshit their ass kiss-, er i mean "drivers", are feeding them. Then in turn shoot sunshine up the executives asses about shale plays. Company sells off any cash-generating assets to fund growth of negative cash flow shale plays assuming oil price will never crash even when the US had added 5 MMBBL/D in 4 years.

We really don't have many more options other than to shut it all in and wait for market corrections. From a reserves and inventory standpoint, there is really no future for this company. Reserves are locked away in high cost assets war-torn. All we can do is hope oil price goes up, someone buys us, and that they don't layoff/further cut severance during the interim. Not sure I can take another year of this depressing company.

@FqBnUUF-1qyt has got it! The wheat is being separated from the chaff. The winners will be those that use the downcycle to set up gains for investors during the next boom. The losers are those that sell assets and destroy share holder value in order to survive! Marathon looks increasingly to be in the latter camp. And to those that think Marathon's woes are all about the price of oil: it's not. It's that MRO spun off its downstream assets at the height of the bubble, decided to do a stock buy back at the max share price rather than pay down debt or hold cash, and decided to essentially have no hedging program in order to chase higher returns. The peer heat map says it all. The next great companies are being made NOW and MRO is looking farther and farther away from 'premiere' than ever. Good luck to all during the next round.

Why does HR use this site to get feedback from employees on how to survive? Have they lost touch with employees? Go...

If you are talking about refineries you are on the wrong marathon site. This is marathon oil not marathon petroleum.

The dumbass is strong with this group

Do you think they will start lay offs at the refineries? If so when do you think this might start happening? Regarding people who are at the Ashland/ Catlettsburg, Kentucky refinery, they just signed a new four year contract, do they have anything to worry about?

I don't see the point in selling assets. It is a wrong move to buy high and sell low. Better to reduce CapEx to a minimum (zero if possible) and ride out the low oil price bust. Take all income to reduce debt, pay no dividends, and cut management salaries to less than $50,000 per person with no back pay later. Cut Board member pay to less than $15,000 per person per year. Let the idiots that got the company into this mess bear the burden as well until debt is zero. Of course the good old boys club will never do this but they cut shareholder dividends. It is time for them to do their part. Zero pay would be a good faith gesture at this point in my book.

Why is the company advertising on line for jobs when job cuts are still being planned ?

A Category Mgr for Drilling Rigs - among other jobs. Seriously ? Surely there is someone left in the company, who may even be at risk of going, who can administer a few drilling contracts for a dozen or so rigs ? Why is this even a full time job now ? Serial executive incompetence at its worst.

There should be an absolute hiring freeze and Job openings should be filled by all of those high performing employees high graded in the past year - they are smart, adaptable and team players, right ? Also, ALL the consultants should be released and should be replaced by employees. 10% pay cuts across the board, including the BOD and executives, would not be a bad idea AND would demonstrate leadership on the part of the execs - for once.

How about not sponsoring fireworks or meet and greets with coaches?

Get rid of ALL the nice to haves. Planes, personal drivers, box seats, over the top executive benefits and bonuses, first class travel, etc.Show employees you are willing to really sacrifice. You haven't done that yet. You can write that on your HR chalk board.

UGH!! I am so over this place!

I think many employees would be happy to take a 10-15% cut in salary for the promise of no layoffs in 2016. It would atleast provide some certainty and stability allowing morale to recover. I haven't heard anyone I work with say a positive thing about the company or its leadership since before February 2015.

Eliminate the dividend.

MRO should focus on profitable activities (international ops) and cease or curtail as much as possible unprofitable ones (North America and Canada Oil Sands). MRO should also swallow its pride and move the corporate office to a less swanky area instead of squandering on a high society address with a fancy visionarium and in-house video production studio. Salaries should be cut across the board (especially in the upper ranks). If employees do not like it they can leave, but they will not as there is no job market. Severance packages should also be cut along with retirement plans. All the benefits MRO offered made employees soft and complacent and afraid to challenge the status quo. If MRO makes the sacrifices now and operates frugally, the benefits will be realized later when it survives and other E&Ps fail.