They brought in some older guy who looked like a cross between a third rate attorney and the Allstate TV insurance salesman. They walked by the cubes late the afternoon before termination, because I stayed late to finish important work for a customer. Then in the morning when we got in, there was a staging area in one of the meeting rooms with closed doors/ They had a personal gal walk to cubes, they asked the person to go to the staging meeting room, and in about 3 minutes, they were seen being escorted back to their cube with a storage box. This went on for hours. Somebody stood there watching them put their stuff in the box, then they walked away. One guy that got sacked started shaking bad and making weird noises. I had to call a friend on the phone to get my mind off of it while it was happening to him, it was so humiliating listening to him unwind. He was an older employee. Then that personnel gal came to my cube. My heart pounded and I got nervous. She said hi, and would I mind walking with her for a company meeting. Inside they had a camera, and told me the session was being recorded. They told me they wished to thank me for all my work that been valuable to the company, but since business is down, there are adjustments that are being made, and that my position was no longer needed. They told me all the information had been prepared in a package for me, together with a name of my personnel rep and best to open and read the material at home. They said I would be paid for the remainder of the day and I was terminated. I would be escorted out of the building, and given a box to pack my things. I would be given 10 minutes max, and if more time was needed, they would have someone help me pack. They asked for my badge,and told me that my email and sign in protocol no longer worked. They told me that I could not use the company phone. It was done in a few minutes in that room Then this guy walked me down to my cube. As he watched me pack my box, none of my co-workers looked at me. As I walked down the aisle, no one said a thing or looked. I felt like a criminal. No goodbyes, nothing. Cold as ice. It's weird how people behave. When I got home, I had to tell my wife. And hardest was telling my children. I feel ashamed, even though I did my best. I don't know what to do. The whole industry is laying off. My health insurance is taken care of for three months, but after that I pay a huge amount to keep it. Just what exactly is Obamacare anyway?
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This whole racket of "Obamacare" is criminal. We are paying more for "health" insurance than for housing. My cobra is covered by the company for 3 months with my severance, then I'm on my own. Who pays $1300 or more a month for health insurance? Really? Criminal I say! Criminal!!!!
Thank you for sharing this. I work for a national news organization, found it honest and wrenching and my bosses/editors did as well. Our sector has its own share of layoffs, as you may know.
I imagine you came to this website to seek privacy. However, If there's any way you'd be willing to share this publicly, pls reply and we can find a way to connect.
thanks,
s
@81514. Goodluck. Thanks for the insight.
If it all possible, try to go into business for yourself and get away from corporate USA. I left in 2008 and never looked back. We are doing fine and my family is much happier. I also don't do the same work I used to. I do work that I like. Now is the time to simplify your life so you don;t get caught in this situation again. Move away from drilling and exploration.
I had a very similar experience happen to me at the SRC during the first layoff round this year. A manager who typically never walks through went through earlier in the day to see if we where there prior to clearing house. After they took a lunch break from laying people off, my boss came to my desk and asked to come talk. Just like the original poster, my heart started pounding and the adrenaline started flowing. I knew exactly what this was about, so I asked directly. No response was given. The walk to "the meeting" was a long one from one building to another(it was 2 minutes but it seemed like 10). My boss must have been under instructions not to say anything because he kept closing his eyes and shaking his head when I asked if this what I thought it was. He wouldn't say a word to me for the entire walk, it was extremely awkward and uncomfortable.
Inside the meeting it was the segment HR manager, site center manager, and my boss. My boss launched into a ramble about decline in oil prices, etc. etc. I told him to spare the bullst and get the point, which he did. The segment HR manager started covering the release document, meanwhile the site center manager and my boss are sitting at the table awkwardly shifting their gazes between the release document and myself. It must have been the first layoff for my boss in his career, because he was almost seemed as nervous about it as I was. They gave me a thumb drive in case I had any personal info on my computer, which I didn't. We finished up the meeting and then walked back to my office to grab my items. On the walk back my boss was more open as to how I ended up on the lean list: I didn't kiss a enough to the N+2.
We got back to my desk. The other people who shared the same office room as me had been escorted out prior to me returning to pack my stuff. On the walk back I had seen them taking a walk outside with another manager. I guess they didn't want them to have contact with me while I packed my stuff. My boss closed the door and I began packing. I gave him my badge and my LDAP password, and computer lock key. I was walked out to my car and I left. The drive home was a daze.
This was my first layoff experience and overall it was a good one. I quickly found a job that was much better in every aspect to SLB. Sometimes you just need a kick in the pants to spur improvement in your life, so for this I thank SLB. Looking back, I was not happy with this less-than mediocre job at SLB. I would not recommend it to most people for many job descriptions. For all their claims of being a "people company" I found no evidence to support that. They are cold and calculating("bleeding blue blood" only occurs in an oxygen-deprived environment). They hire talent from top universities, put them in positions where they are over-qualified, and reassure them with sayings like "You guys are the future. Just put up with this crappy job for a few years and you'll be a manager". SLB has about 20 layers of middle-management, so even that is not much to look forward to. The way they treat international workers on H1-B workers is even worse: SLB knows there are some barriers to switching companies so they use this to slave drive the H1-B workers more than the average US worker. If you're going to work for a company with such volatile job security, at least make sure they compensate you appropriately for that risk.
I will not be looking back to that Southeast Texas hole. Best of luck to everyone who is going through the moral-crushing layoff experience at SLB. The week-by-week, day-by-day layoff is like peeling off a band-aid very slowly. Best to grab your PIP and get out while you can!
I am surprised they weren't using the Bob's from office space to do the laying off, the people who wouldn't even look at you were afraid they would be next if they acknowledged you. Sorry to hear of the loss of you job, I hope you find something more fulfilling.
Sad story, my sympathies. I am a well known person in the industry, been laid off twice at large energy companies, then had two near-misses at two other large companies. Finally, quit to work for myself, built a thriving consulting business, never looked back. If you know the industry, its products, do try solving the problems yourself and provide better solutions - they're yours and you can sell them over and over. Give it time. You'll thrive! Good luck!
What center did you work and what day did you get laid off? Thanks for your story.
I can't wait to see the movie.
Obama Care is a bill (Affordable Care Act) that requires insurance companies to NOT sell junk insurance. It requires coverage on things that insurance companies were not covering and their clients usually didn't know this. It also opens up the market so that insurance companies have to compete against each other for business. You can type in Affordable Care Act in Google and it will take you to a government web site. When there you fill out an application with your earnings and your dependants. There is a minimum earning you have to make in order to be eligible. If you are at the lower income of this range, you can get government subsidy to help pay for your insurance. A friend of mine has a 20,000.00 a year income..(husband, wife and two children) and she pays 140.00 a month and the government subsidizes that with 640.00 a month to pay her premium. Shop around and look at all the options offered by each company on that web site when you get to the part that has you peruse the different insurance companies.
Personally, I don' t think the oilfield will be back for at least two years. This bust appears to be much like the one in the 80's. We had to start over when it came back. We did that and maintained a frugal lifestyle; quickly paying off our home, saving to buy vehicles and saving as much as we could. We are able now to ride this one out for a while. Not even job hunting and won't be for any oilfield jobs. Best of luck to you and your family. You will survive; it won't be pleasant and it will be a huge learning experience on living with an oilfield job.
Your description of your layoff day was very enlightening. Thank you.