Thread regarding Chevron Phillips Chemical layoffs

Yaffa.Fredrick@houstonchronicle.com

If you notice Chevron was in their news for news of laying off 100’s. Chevron Phillips was not. They want this quiet. No one at the top wants the story of corporate overspend on frills, that cost people their jobs.

Email that Houston chronicles investigative journalist editor with your story. How you were laid off, possible violation of the WARN, all the details you can confirm. Provide the link to these forums. Even if you think someone else did it. Do it as well.
If we all do it they can see the truth in the numbers. We can all uncover more together. Don’t be afraid they will find out. What are they gonna do? Lay you off again?

@6wm Funny how you paint CPChem as rule followers. They have falsified investigations, falsified environmental reporting records, and outright covered up large toxic releases that went on for days because a certain plant manager was in line to be moved to a VP position. So, spare me the high and mighty “we know how to do the right thing”.

@6wz there are some pick mes! In the wrore

The CIO has an accounting degree? The chief information officer of a global company has an accounting degree?!?

HR has a degree from the University of Phoenix?? Is that even a real one?

I also love how much business school engineers get taught in engineering.

But they make great vice presidents and presidents?

We need to get Elliot investors group on this. They hate that P66 has Chevron Phillips. They perhaps would like to see this and use it as leverage.
Or the boards contact emails

@6wn how many more rounds this year?

@6kc if you’re not a coward, who are you posting this insensitive note anonymously?

Yes, HR is clearly monitoring the comments, like all bullies, they can dish it out but can’t take it. And we all see what’s happening with the downvotes. Who else would be defending them if not themselves?

@6wp I wonder if they have an on call schedule in HR to monitor this post and interject periodically. It wouldn’t surprise me since it would waste money.

@6wm thanks HR. We’d believe you but you don’t follow any other rules… or ethics… or morals… again, you are dismissed and unwelcome here.

Better not get complacent if you weren’t included in this round. This was only the first phase, with many more to come. Not only is manufacturing coming…the next few are going to involve those whose job is going to be outsourced…looking at you finance, credit, customer service, marketing aides. If I was you I would start looking now as most likely you’ll not get a severance like this round got. You’ve been warned…

@6pa CPChem is well aware about the WARN and I’m quite certain they are following all the rules.

@6wh Sorry I meant I thought it was my fault and now I understand the BS is everywhere -- systemic

@3yn you are wrong. P66 doesn’t grow without CPChem. You think they are going to build another refinery? They are shutting refineries down.

@6wf Out them all.
One thing that has made me feel a little better is learning that institutionalized incompetence, unchecked nepotism, conflicts of interest, utter lack of ethics, and personal cruelty are everywhere, from HQ to the plants. Silence is enforced with fear and some relish it. It's a part of who they are.

@6vt you have to love the “as previously stated” comment. Getting under their skin because they can’t control the narrative here. No peer groups for cpchem look like this. No peer groups have excessively promoted buddies and friends. Engineers in any and every single role. No peer companies would have kept a failing manufacturing vp who hired layers in between him to manage the plants. Scapegoats. No peer companies bury real ethics complaints.

So many people say ah well just move on.
I want to know how we fight. No one will get their job back but someone needs to look into this company and their questionable tactics. Do we start a petition?
Do we all compile our own experiences and mail them to them? What is the best way to get this information out?
Accountability is important here.
People lost their jobs for fraternity style behaviors.

@6vs There is no difference at HQ. We also have a manager’s daughter at the AP working under the same department. Most of the employees do not have a degree as well and are somehow connected to managers. The turnover is ridiculous. There are employees working several desks while we have a girl that calls in sick every week. There was weeks with her out of the office however no one does anything about it. There has been alot of complaints about management and favoritism. HR and Hotline are aware nothing changes. After reading most of these comments sounds like now that this is a common culture in the company.

@6vt thanks HR. You are dismissed and not welcome here… or should I call you and tell you on Teams?

As previously stated in this thread…. any jobs/roles or groups that remained, are a design of the consulting firms org chart, which is benchmarked against the peers. Based on that, the work group remaining are relevant for the future. It may not make sense but apparently it’s most common amongst the peers.

My Observations After 15 Years in IT at the Plant.

It took me a while to write this because I wanted to first hear what others had to say.
It seems many of us had our “blinkers” on—only seeing what we wanted when things were going well.

Here’s my perspective, based on 15 years working in IT at the Plant:

Despite my dedication and contributions, no one recognized the hard work I put in.
When I became ill, the focus shifted to what I couldn’t do rather than what I had done.
When I was let go, the new IT hire literally celebrated. She should realize she’s part of the problem too—she was only hired because her husband works at the Plant.

CPChem has allowed unethical practices to persist for years.
Now that some issues are finally being exposed, the company seems more focused on covering things up again.
The Ethics Hotline and HR? A complete joke. Nothing ever changes.

I can’t speak for what happens at HQ, but here’s what I witnessed directly at the Plant and in IT:

1. Hiring Unqualified Personnels
   Many departments quietly removed requirements like a Bachelor of Science degree or industry certifications.
   This opened the floodgates for hiring friends and personal connections.

IT set the tone for this trend under the new CIO—who promoted her friends. Others quickly followed.

1. Keeping Underperformers
   Managers and supervisors are unwilling to do the paperwork needed to address performance issues.
   So everyone ends up marked as “meeting expectations,” regardless of actual output.

We all know who the underperformers are, but no one is held accountable.

Some of these same individuals made critical mistakes—like with the 1594 project—and were still sent to Orange afterward.

1. Nepotism
   Nepotism happens everywhere, but here it’s blatant and protected.

One employee brought her own sister into the company.
At one point, two different managers had their sons working in the same department.

One of them was a known bully—misusing his badge, creating a toxic environment, and even driving contractors to quit.

As usual, HR and the Ethics Hotline did nothing.

1. The “Good Ol' Boy” System
   This culture is deeply entrenched and out in the open.

Just look at Teams—it’s obvious who’s being promoted into managerial roles.

This is exactly why Diversity & Inclusion (D&I) matters.

Many managers and supervisors do not have the qualifications their positions require.

If you want the respect and the pay, earn it—with real qualifications and leadership, not connections.

1. Minimal Effort from Employees
   Many project engineers and staff contribute the bare minimum, relying heavily on vendors and contractors.

The 1594 project was a prime example of this laziness.

“Turnkey” has become a code word for poor oversight and accountability—especially in finance.

Even after all the errors at 1594, the same people were sent to Orange.

1. “We Make Plastic, Not Sense”
   That’s a common phrase around the Plant—and sadly, an accurate one.

We often redo the same project two or three times just to get it right.

The ongoing issues with wireless infrastructure are another repeat example.

1. Poor IT Leadership
   The current CIO lacks a clear understanding of what IT support truly means in a Plant environment.

She constantly emphasizes “resource management,” but her team doesn’t know how to implement it effectively.

She treats IT as a project-based app shop—meanwhile, promoting friends and wasting millions of dollars and critical resources.

After 25 years, we still can’t even properly route support tickets. The entire IT process is a joke.

@6vc This should serve as a case study for any organization that encourages “accountability and ownership” and speaking up when you see something wrong, but then silences top performers who speak up against poor business decisions and ill behaviors of individuals brought in on the buddy system. This is exactly what happens when you use your broken HR system to silence these employees. The performance of the organization as a whole declines because the individuals causing the problems and making bad decisions are left unchecked. The biggest issue is that these individuals are still not being dealt with because they are in the failing manufacturing organization, led by the person who is arguably the biggest failure of leadership that CPChem has ever had. (And we’ve had some doosies)

This is little comfort to the commercial folks that were forced to do manufacturing’s bidding or the accounting people screaming “look at the financials!” or the IT people who support every single person in the organization… these are the people we’re letting go. Not the TOTAL rejects that never deserved a place in CPChem, not the leadership failures that caused the whole mess… the hardworking people in the support groups that believed they were working for the greater good.

Congratulations B Can, you really messed up this time. No wonder TOTAL got rid of you. I hope your wife finds out about your HR f buddy and leaves you with nothing, just like you’ve left 300 hardworking people with nothing.

@6vc Could that be because the SEE Office is the author of the method of this madness? I mean, you wouldn't get rid of yourself in that case. I'm actually asking. I understand some of the forces at work here -- economic downturn, CPChem's failure to contribute cash to the owners, diminishing market prospects and a glut of product, the prospect of doubling PE capacity when GTP comes online and and an outdated sales mindset. Was the BT, rapid transition to offshoring, and spans and layers workforce reduction plan prompted by economics or did some of it just coincide with the downturn? Anyone have any better info? I'm just trying to understand what happened.

@6vc so if you had to keep only one corporate team (plant operators etc aside) what would it be? You clearly question SEE and HR bloat.

@6v9 the SEE team, apparently borger has a twice demoted employee who is in a made up position in operations while on a managers salary, seemingly another manager good night so bad they wanted to get outside council, HR cover ups as well as you have extreme bloat in HR, a failing manufacturing department with year over year declines, leadership in every plant is abysmal, extreme expenditures like HQ and a 25th year rail car during times of hardship. Who approves that? Who says yes order a railcar while we let people go. The ones who get to stay will love it.
Nothing makes sense. You could not rationalize anything these people choose to do. Normal rational decisions lead to success. You see what type of decisions they make and where it’s landed the company. The wrong people are being let go.

@6h6 Why does the SEE team who works on projects gets to stay? All of the projects are terminated. There is no reason to even have a SEE team. We got cut, so why aren't they getting cut??

@6r3 this wasn’t the case in BT, the age ranges were all over the place. I will just move on and learn my lesson about depending on a company as much as I did

@6r3 I strongly encourage you to consult with an employment lawyer before signing your severance agreement. Once you sign and the revocation period passes, you will be waiving your right to pursue any legal claims against them.

In commercial…18 of 23 or 78% of the people let go were over 40…hmmm…age discrimination much???

@6qq we are not worth selling right now. For some it easy to pick up and leave and for others not so much. Everyone has a different situation. Try to remeber that. I wish everyone luck and success in their future. There are some talented people in cpc and i hope you find a place that will apperciate your talent and hard work. Good luck.

@6p0 why miss good night? Lol salacious. Try to use the proper word next time. God please look that up and explain how that made sense referring to how g goodnight treated her people? It does apply to the other statements about people here though.

@6qe more like p66 will sell to chevron and chevron will look more like exxon every day

@6pf some of these comments are obserd. We worked, we got paid well, we were let go, we got severance (which no one has yet mentioned) depending on tenure and then they have us the “oportunity” to find a new job!!!! Lets just move on. For all we know, the company may not be there in 2 years and then no one will get a package.

Good luck to everyone and lets try to stay positive.

Salamalickem

@6ff who is this G good night since I can't check anymore? Was she in IT?

@6ph additionally its (texas warn act) over a 90 day window so 90 days from now the 130 of us who were cut no longer count against the next wave. Quick like a bandaid may have been better but many
small cuts will take its mental toll for those who remain.

@6pg at least 300 layoffs but if the follow their parent Chevron, probably closer to 900. Do the math. How much did they say they needed to save? Average how much most employees cost per head. That will give you the total number of layoffs.

@6pf If you’re laid off in Texas, it’s important to know if you can get unemployment benefits. The Texas Workforce Commission (TWC) handles these benefits, which are meant to help people who lose their jobs through no fault of their own. These benefits offer temporary financial support while you search for a new job.

@6pg it’s a horrible situation and I’m not sure I’d say it has been managed or communicated well, but I’d be shocked if they intend to meet WARN criteria and failed to file or did not know they needed to. Certainly just personal speculation, but I believe total layoffs will be below 500 (an additional 370)

@6pc…the person led with “there’s a possibility…” so without knowledge of how many more layoffs are planned to take place, one cannot rule out if the WARN notice was violated or not. So the message was not incorrect, they were just trying to educate us on something that many of us were not aware of. My only problem is now we’re giving HR free knowledge and now they’ll more than likely file their notice on Monday.

@6pa This is another good reason to take your paperwork to an attorney. If CPChem did violate the WARN Act by not giving 60 days notice, you would, according to what I read and if I understood it correctly, be owed back pay/benefits.

@6pc…right, but that’s assuming that the layoffs were complete on yesterday 😊