Thread regarding ConocoPhillips layoffs

Oh wow, Anonymous89419 seems to have hit the nail on the head. I fear the whole thing is about who you know and who you started work with back in the day and not how you perform or innovate. Scary. If you are not part of one of the cliques, then you are all but gone in this or the layoff rounds to come

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A note to 'Callous' - some of these people were good employees, skilled, smart and experienced. I've had the fortune/misfortune of being on both sides - it never comes down to skill, whether or not you're a 'good employee (and really, who are any of us to judge others talents. Those others likely have the same to say about us) or anything else other than MONEY. Exactly, companies make these decisions based on the question 'do I have somebody on my payroll who can do their job 80% as well but only cost 70% as much?'. If so, you're a goner. If not, you're safe - for now.

To everybody who was let go, keep you're head high - you're in good company. Remember, it all came down to money and is no reflection of what your worth is.

To the poster, a little advice, and I want to be up front and say that this is not a cyber scolding: when i was younger (now in my late 30's) I was naive, thinking I was 'safe' because I was somehow magically better than all those let go. I found out the hard way later on that it wash;t the case. Unless you're really lucky, this will happen to you as well sometime during your career. A little more class right now goes a long way, as you too will be on the other side of the knife in due time.

A good remainder of your career to all

So true. A lot of experience (not necessarily over 50 y/o) employees were let go. A lot of them made the unforgivable mistake of actually doing their work well, not belonging to any of te numerous COP ' mafia families'. They will move on to other companies that are less weighed down with red tape and not hand tied with cliques supporting their own.

I have to say that there is a population that this thread does not include in the discussion. That population includes the staff who has reached their career grade levels of 15 or 16, because they have been inovative, hard working, and willing to put the hours in to get the WORK done. That would include any GOAL-driven job needed by the company. These employees put in huge amounts of overtime to account for the business long before technological changes have propelled us to today. People may forget that projects were needed to make such technological changes required innovative, hard working people. In my area of expertise I have seen mass layoffs of technical grades 15-16. There is a lot of bang for the bucks to layoff such well paid employees who in recent years received benefit of a higher percent of VCIP with young staff years away from such pay grades and VCIP payments. I don't think it is necessary to believe everyone laid off was an innadequate employee, so I hope people will jump off the "trash" bandwagon. The layoffs were much less about performance issues and more about money.

Conocophillips has staked their future on shale and new hires with high GPAs but no innovative spirit. Unlike other majors, the mergers have created a culture-less company filled with cliques (Conocophill, Phillips, Burlington, major capital projects, Mormons, etc) that are so busy protecting their own. With debt-spending required just to make payroll, there is no way that COP implements their domestic growth strategy. Poor management means that all you young and surviving ConocoPhillips employees are already undesirable!

Just as a point of argument, The initial retaliation was from the "see where I am in 30 years" kid who wasn't fired, not the veterans that Callous was calling out.

I can't speak for Callous, but for myself, I do agree to some extent with his sentiment.

While I am sure it is not true for all cases (so please don't harangue me about being an ignorant idiot etc etc, I am sharing MY OWN EXPERIENCE and opinion, not making a broad statement about everyone over 50 that was laid off) I personally observed the type of late career employee Callous called out and the rest of my team has had to pick up that slack. When the "lead" contact is clueless and ineffective and the only one showing up and giving a darn is the kid who's been out of school six months, I can see where Callous is coming from.

That sounds threatening. My first thought was that the original poster started the name calling, and I understood why people who had just lost their careers and the very livelihood for their families would retaliate. After that initial exchange the plot seems to have thickened. What I can't understand is why younger people would attack those people who were laid off. Please explain.

I kinda think the OPs characterization of some of the other posters as "obsolete" and "hidebound" is tame compared to how his detractors called him an "ignorant idiot spouting garbage", or an "arrogant egocentric simple minded" "narcissist".

Name calling aside, we do move into the realm of libel with the unsubstantiated allegation of fraud through misuse of company resources.

Isn't it lucky this is all anonymous?

Oh, I think the name calling started with Mr. Callous. The following are direct quotes:

"If you haven't figured that out by now you're obsolete. Stop whining, move over, and watch this space to see what the next generation does once the hidebound Ex-Cons and Former-Phillips hands are put out to pasture."

Now, who started the name calling?

Actually Mr Callous posted at 02:40 UTC which would have been like 21:40 (or 9:40 pm) CST assuming he is in Houston. So the whole thought of stealing at work didn't really pan out. But I hope as an independent contractor you aren't billing your time on here to the company. You may now resume the name calling.

If Mr. Callous (Anonymous 88828) is what the new Conocophillios is all about, then God help them. Instead of focusing on work at 2:40 PM on a work day, he is so confident in his ass kissing abilities that he surfs the web...most likely in his Company issued computer or iPhone! As an independent contractor, at least I am not stealing while I post this reply! So much for Integrity and the SPIRIT values!

Had the layoffs been performance and potential based like they were During the last downturn, I would be more positive about the future potential of the company. The original poster is living proof that the recruiting strategy of the company has succeeded in attracting a bunch of over-paid, narcissists who spend more time worrying about office layouts, coffee bars and staying in Houston than learning the business.

True testament to the type of arrogant egocentric simple minded individuals still employed in L48, try and make sense of the madness coming your way.

Your don't matter here

Dear 88864: I did say "IF", multiple times in fact. That's a conditional conjunction, IF you weren't aware. Thus, it was not I who was spouting off assumptions, merely addressing a specific sub-population of the posters to this forum.

I do applaud the boldness of your direct attack on me, however misguided I believe it to be. I hope it serves to reinforce your sense of self-importance, as it seems you are desperately in need of external validation.

You're welcome.

Why are you assuming that the long term employees who were let go were coasting along? One let go in my department had the best work ethic and was the hardest worker. And just a bit of advice...that generation has learned a lot more about making their way, hard work and what they are entitled to than their children's generation. "Move over and see what the next generation does..."? Yeah, I can't wait to see what an ignorant idiot like you spouting garbage without knowing what you are talking about does...Good Luck with that. And for the record, I was not laid off and I am young. And my opinion is that the long term employees who were let go are making off so well financially that it is the best thing for them. You on the other hand, with that attitude, will never amount to anything. I am positive in 30 years you won't be anywhere near where I reach. Learn a little class and grace. And then learn to keep your mouth shut instead of spouting off assumptions.

Finally!

Amen to that. I worry way more for us early career folks who have no resume and no savings (and likely still have student loans, not to mention the mortgages on the overpriced houses we bought in Houston during the boom) than I do for the veterans who have a pension and a 401(k) in addition to a resume as long as my arm.