It has come to light, and as many already know, that the 31 Geoscientists laid off on March 15th, 2016 from the Houston office were all hand chosen by Scott Burner, Senior Manager, Head of Production Development Geoscience. The people that he selected all had a common thread: They might have been perceived to hinder his career advancement at BHP Billiton. To this end, he had them dismissed. To these people who were unfortunate to have crossed paths with Scott Burner, he might say you got what you deserved. As any differing of opinion may have seemed to be a hindrance to his multimillion-dollar pet project relying heavily on contractors. This project, more than any other trail of bodies he has left behind, is directly responsible for his myriad of promotions of late. Any of which may have culled disfavor, forced collusion, or stifled careers of those who worked near him. And so, those 31 whom he perceived as most dangerous to his advancements, have been excommunicated as it were, by Scott Burner.
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I was a former employee of Scott Burner. I left several years prior to the layoff by choice for other career related reasons. I now work for another energy company that went through similar layoffs as those experienced at BHP. Although I sympathize with the 31 geologists that were laid off during a horrible downturn in the industry, I couldn't disagree more with the comments in the thread. Scott Burner was one of the best managers and colleagues I've ever worked with. Scott was exceptionally forgiving and thoughtful when it came to employees, and he was obviously put in a tough spot.
I was one of the 31. I had the worst manager I have ever seen show me the door. I have hit the ground running in a MUCH better place to work