What do you think, how will things play out in Perth?
19 replies (most recent on top)
PDC is just as clueless
I was always under the impression that it was our PDC that made moves, not HR???
Wheatstone isn't much better -the newly appointed expat team lead from the US has arrived at the conclusion that compression isn't necessary -years after compression was approved and installed on the platform -makes you wonder what HR are doing when they put these people into decision making roles and what background checks did they do if any?
These models were the ones that misled the management into this kind of nighmare in Gorgon. They made them so complicated that noone understood what they even meant. It became a classic case of analysis paralysis and finally they tweaked it to create whatever numbers management wanted to believe. Chevron way at its best. Throw a lot of spreadsheet jocks at the problem, create an analysis paralysis, and then just do whatever the hell the management wants.
@EW8LRgB-Kuog Maybe this person was carrying out a 5 spot waterflood :)
There is one US expat in Perth right now who spent the last 3 years building an elaborate spreadsheet model on investment timing using gas volumes that were either not supported by the latest drilling campaign or wrong, even the number of wells was not considered or even if they were drilled into water and died after 6 months. Total incompetence.
Thay have a huge layer of fat that needs shedding. Lots of expats collecting lots of tax free allowances with no real contribution other than building huge excel spreadsheets which are not meant to be understood by anybody and don't add any value.
@EW8LRgB-Ktfi We Agree!!! There is an unnamed expat who is a team lead for a major capital Chevron gas project in Perth who has no previous experience at all with ANY gas projects, wrote c++ programs for 7 years, completed a well test training course who does not know how much gas is in the field he is working on despite having a 1 month handover from the previous team lead! Yet HR deemed that he was qualified enough to get rid 3 people who had a combined experience of over 30 years over the last 2 years!
Expats are not cheaper than locals in OZ at all, they don't get paid in $A or pay the same tax as locals, they get housing allowances, business class airfares and international schooling for all their kids even if they come from English speaking countries. All expenses for return/relocation are covered. Is that team lead with 1 year experience in oil waterflooding from the US better than a local person with over 20 years experience working on gas projects?
I'm in Perth and the cuts have been pretty severe - about 30% for green and blue badges. We were about 4500 people and now about 3000. Not all due to the oil price but also due to Gorgon finishing up. And yes - some expats are being repatriated or made redundant. My group went from 160 to 85 over 2015.
What's the latest on Perth redundancies?
Two diametrically opposed views on the Perth/WA operation. Interesting. Could you both elaborate please?
I am perplexed that we still do business there
They should expand the Perth office since they have done a bang up job so far.
Are any of the engineers getting the chop? Have any yet?
That is true @EW8LRgB-1pxl
US payroll is cheaper than quite a few around the world. I can think of at least 7 more expensive payrolls by the time you get above PSG23 or so. That is why Americans are so often in rotating jobs (ops, drilling) - they are cheaper than the locals. With the current strong dollar, this could unravel a bit.
Expats are actually cheaper than locals in OZ, pay scale anyway.
They will start sending the expensive expats home.