To all the former Devon colleagues, how is the job market in Oklahoma City? Are you finding work and comparable salaries? It would be nice to hear how everyone is progressing. Many of us may follow in June so it would be nice to hear how you are doing and any lessons you can share.
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Nobody is going to pay you anywhere near what you were making, because nobody else is making money off a hot commodity that sells for $100/bbl. There is nothing else that compares to oil when it's high. So when the boom goes bust, it's not like there are alternatives to maintain your petroleum lifestyle.
After taking a few days off and modest job search I landed on the first IT job offer with same base pay as Devon. Insurance paid 100%, but PTO is nowhere close, no bonus (except for christmas bonus).
take any job you can get with full benefits; you can always quit when you find something better. medical costs will take all your savings if you have major surgery without coverage. My wife just had a simple hip joint repair and the total bills were >$40000.
I'm on week 3 of my new job. Make more and benefits are similar. Glad I fleeced them.
What Job Market?
Job market is awful; all discussions of salary have been 40% lower than what I made at Devon. I was in ESS.
I got a job after being let go and I am an IT person. The biggest gap I think you will see is in the benefits. Health insurance costs a lot more, less vacation times most companies don't even offer bonus or minimal amounts like 5%. I still consider myself lucky and honestly what I make now is more of the norm was just spoiled at Devon with the incredible benefits. I had multiple offers and most where below Devon.
I know lot of people are talking bad about Devon which is natural if you get laid off. But credit needs to be given where deserved they took good care of during boom times.
It would help to know what departments we are talking about and/or jobs, i.e. Drilling Engineer, Production Engineer, Geologist, Tech., etc.
It is a lie to to say we are lucky to be the first ones out. There are no jobs in this town any where close.
I made 129k and got an offer of 90k. So really you are looking at about half the salary if you include bonus, vacation and stock. I turned this down and I'm still looking.
Slim pickings. There's almost no jobs in the okc area. Best bet for jobs are in IT, HR, Accounting etc.
There are NO oil & gas jobs available in OKC. And especially not for applicants over 50 years old. It would be surprising if any of these companies plan to hire employees at the salaries we were paid at Devon. They will take this opportunity to lower salaries and probably benefits too. The only reason Devon has great benefits and pay is due to the fact that Chesapeake started it all by hiring anyone and everyone that they wanted by giving the best salaries and benefits around. Thank you Aubrey McClendon! If you still have a job, your best bet is to do whatever you can to stay where you are until the market turns around.
I am 59 and moved to OKC when Devon closed the Houston office. I have now moved back to Houston. The problem with many of us laid off is our age. We are not ready to retire and only have a few years to devote to a new job. I have just now started looking and can't really tell you yet, but from my friends who have, salaries are about 25% lower than Devon. The market in Houston is as flat a OKC so I expect it to take several months before I find something decent. Devon didn't really leave us in a very good spot. It is sad that they chose to target the most senior members.
Would be helpful to know what departments you think will be impacted by a June event. I am hearing the market depends on the area of expertise