Thread regarding Chevron Corp. layoffs

Yeah, I can speak of a certain expatriate who ran a little project in Australia, and returned to the US, with what must have been some great dirt on the company because no request was too much...up to and including executives pleading to local private schools to get his less than intelligent spawn accepted after initial rejection. I wouldn't be surprised to learn that CVX made a little gift to the school to make it happen. Yet he came back as a leader...one who brought a project in at double the intial budget.

I like this comment below the best: " You're in id–t "
That's priceless!

As someone that spent about 30 years overseas for Chevron, I thought I might share a few personal views on international assignments:

In general, I found that vast majority of expats were technically well qualified and, in general, could compete on even footing for positions in the US. Far from being washed-up or "has beens", they were dedicated individuals that, for a variety of reasons - money, sense of adventure, advancement, etc - chose to pursue an international career.

It is quite expensive - on the order of 5 to 10 times more than a domestic relocation - to move a family overseas. Include the additional cost for home leave, housing, expat premium, etc and it becomes obvious that one selection criteria is whether the employee AND his/her family can cope with an international assignment. To be fair, there have been failures which is why the selection committee considers adaptability a key criteria.

It is a fair criticism that some expats, especially those in 28/28 assignments, overstay their welcome. This was particularly an issue in Cabinda during the 80's and 90's. For the most part, CVX has learned from this experience and, to a large extent, this was not routinely repeated in TCO.

While the premiums and other monetary compensation may seem over the top, trust me - you earn every penny your paid.

Happy to discuss further if there are questions

Yes Sir...like those two English folks who wrote and wrote and wrote an Engineering transformation manifesto in PRC for over two years with ZERO implementation. Masters of Powerpoint who walked the floor sniffing every office every afternoon to see what they were missing.

But management allowed it, that's why we are in the mess we are. Very little accountability and substance.

Spot on, I used to work with a guy who had been rotating to Angola for years, had a girlfriend in Luanda, partied like an animal in Pointe Noire with a 2nd one, while keeping her wife happy in Houston with a Neiman Marcus card. Talented you suppose? Nope, he just knew everybody's name and birthdays, and wore those kaki shirts with a million platform logos every Friday. He also played the banjo and entertained his PDR in Sugar Land every month. ZERO meritocracy here.

He is still there, running his mouth with the same BS in every meeting.

That's how it's done in Chevron. Leeches like this one will k–l Covid-19, not the way around.

Expat positions in Chevron have always been the avenue for mediocre employees to get big foreign service premiums, and return as clueless managers due to their 'experience' gained overseas. That's about to end with the D&I push to promote local clueless people.

Repatriated and not replaced due to SASBU gross mismanagement. Hardly a rich oppportunity for those in need of expat bonuses to avoid having to work 20 years to retire.

You have any stats you can back up or this is just your opinion. Over 60% SASBU expats have been repatriated back in July 2020. I am curious if you can give some numbers.

ReloPackage: There is some cross-pollination from Round 3, at least. Example: In CEMREC, MB swapped out several positions with folks coming from other BUs. Why ANYBODY would want to join the dysfunctional sh!!show that is CEMREC is beyond me, but there you go.

Umm, this was a selection event not a PDC. All expats more than three years overseas will be sent home at next PDC.

Maybe those career expats were willing to go to hard living locations while others weren’t 10 yrs ago. Now hiring managers know they understand and can handle the hard expat life so they keep getting selected. Being an expat isn’t as easy as it looks on the outside - lots of challenges and hardships. I understand not everyone will agree though.

Are we seeing any relocations with the ongoing layoffs? I don’t know of any people being relocated to other BUs to fill open roles.

Yes and they Talk about D&I and removing Bias, so pathetic!