Okay, first off, there were many solid employees who got the axe last fall, this past April and will again this fall, probably between September and November. Lots of slackers kept their jobs by being back stabbers, asskissers, friends of managers, whatever. Maybe you did not play the game or were not good enough at it. Maybe it was just being in the wrong place at the wrong time. The bottom line is, there are virtually no jobs available for professional people in the oil industry right now. It will realistically not pick up for another year, maybe 2 years. Chevron CAPEX will be around 17-19 billion for 2017 and 2018. Those are Chevron's projections. You can't just sit around and wait and watch your severance, savings and 401k get used up. There is lots of legitimate blame to put on Chevron and almost every other oil and service sector company management. If John Watson leaves next week, it will not change your situation.
21 replies (most recent on top)
@ekib, that's something that I'll have to think about very seriously. Starting a business is a dream for many. The 3 principal things that one needs is a good plan, the start-up capital, and the will to commit to it through thick and thin. I have the first two things. Just waiting to convince myself that I'd have the will to stick with it.
Start a business... You won't have to worry about someone else deciding on your future what looks like ...
I retired about a year ago. I don't need to work anymore, but I'm not 60 yet. I'm getting bored now that I've settled in to retirement living. Many of my friends still work, so I'm often stuck with nothing to do. I'm thinking of looking for a job, any meaningful job to occupy my time, else I'm going to sink into an old man's routine or develop Alzheimer's.
I took a job that pays 1/3-1/4 of what I was making at Chevron...after collecting 6 months unemployment.
I'm not complaining. After all, I took the job.
Just some thoughts here. I was cut after working a steady 9/100 schedule for a very long time, not 9/80 or 9/60 like many people, and often did the work of 2 people. I am not some sissy crybaby, just another victim of budget cuts and project cancellations. Right now I am watching Apocalypse Now on tv. It's great being able to stay up late. This is a LAYOFF board, yet many immature people post hateful things about those who lost their jobs. That is a pathetic and sick way to get your laughs. I pity your small brain and lack of empathy. Chevron does practice identity politics as corporate policy. Why not just have an employee appreciation day for everyone of all races and sexual identity. Everything is is broken up into Black, Asian, Latino/Hispanic or LGBT awareness days. There is a conspicuous absence of European (White) awareness day. The layoff process is rife with politics and causes a great deal of mental anguish for those waiting for weeks to find out if they still have a job. How can employees concentrate on their work while worrying about this? I could go on, but you get my drift. One more thing, I am sleeping so much better now. I am unemployed, yet I feel so relaxed and liberated. Maybe it was the crazy corporate culture at Chevron.
Things are heating up here.
Yes, little pathetic pussy-whipped douche-bag,@Hib9oPc-2rnr, I am gay, do you have a problem with that? And I would love to say all of it to your face and let it soak in because I am also quite capable of crushing yours easily with one hand as you would know at first look. However, I am not in the habit of picking on little pathetic wannabe alpha-male weaklings with identity crises, so you are safe. Also You should just look in the mirror and do so, if you really want to, what's keeping you? LOL!!!!! " I would personally like to say that crap to my face." What a bozo.
To 2xdp, you really like the word ass Are you one of the gay boys at Chevron that the company protects and forces those LGBT awareness parties down everyone's throats with the little cupcakes, ice cream and rainbow bracelets? If there were so many sniveling cry babies at Chevron, what does that tell you about the management that hired them. This is a layoff board, jerk. Many people infinitely better than you have lost their livelihood. Maybe you are a self-absorbed, narcissistic millenial type who thinks your sh-- does not stink. There will come a day when you will get yours and then you can run back to mommy. I would personally like to say that crap to my face.
It's nice that the sniveling whiney cry-babies have left CVX and have a place to vent on this thread. They all have a different excuse for getting $hit-canned. For some of them it's nepotism, for others it's an overbearing manager, for all, they invariably know more than their bosses and everyone else at Chevron. That's nice. That must be why they got $sh---canned out the door on their A$$. Well get off your sorry A$SES'S and find a job if you are so great and have so much talent. Don't cry, after all you are smarter than everyone else at Chevron and your managers are all stupid and don't know $hit! Go find a job paying the same with similar benefits now , tough guys! Go ahead. Run along. Or whine and complain online all day like a 7 year old girl. Your choice.
There are several who went self employed. Economy proof and don't have to deal with leaders who think they know everything and they don't. The behaviors I witnessed at Chevron were so unprofessional, I don't ever want to go back to corporate America. I have seen 30 year olds act get positions that they were not qualified and try to destroy those who were qualified, just to eliminate their competition. I work harder, get paid less, have more potential and really like my boss. Don't sit around waiting for someone to hire you, go do something for yourself...
The embezzlers, sister-in-laws, mothers, sons, uncles and cousins are still here. It's time to connect the dots for shareholders.
Spot on, yxf. "Good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment". Replace Human Energy with that truism.
There was a bumper sticker in the 80's that said God, please give me another oil boom. I promise I won't piss it away. That was a long time ago, and people (management and anyone under 45) have forgotten or have no memory. I never thought I would see the day when this industry would melt down again. It is like WW2 following WW1. There is a saying that good judgment comes from experience and experience comes from bad judgment. This should be printed and posted in every office, starting from the top down. Also, make this a new banner to hang in the main lobby and remove that silly human energy one.
The job market for good paying professional jobs in Houston is very tight. You have to compete more than was the case before the energy downturn. I'm resigned to the fact I'll have to accept work in a different industry for less than half the pay I received at Chevron. Maybe when things turn around for O&G, I may find a job like the one I once had.
In response to the post saying that there are new jobs posted each week, 99% of them are shams or are posted for requirements to get an already employed person a visa. I was lucky that 2 out of over 200 jobs posted were real and interviewed me... I got the second job at a significant cut to my original salary, but I have no choice but to take it to support my family. I still communicate regularly with others who I consider friends who were also laid off and most of them have not been so lucky.
OP, I assume you didn't make the team. Instead of blaming others what could you have done to perform better?
OP, instead of wasting your time posting on here, get off your assand hit the job market.
You are right about a few openings out there, but each one will probably get 100+ responses. Plus they are very targeted in the type of discipline and software knowledge and experience. It is still very slim pickings. Not to sound like a downer, but that is the reality. Finding another half decent job in this environment is like winning the lottery.
The OP is wrong. There are unadvertised Geo and Eng jobs available at small companies that did not over leverage. You will have to get off your posterior and go find one. However, you will first have to conduct a skill assessment of yourself. What do you truly have to offer? can you crank out maps or generate engineering data via current workstation applications? Do you follow thru on your promises to deliver? Will you sit wells in east nowhere? Are you in a local professional society? If so, are you active in a positive manner?
Those that have a passion for O&G will find a way to stay involved in a peripheral or lesser position until time improve. Those that just liked the paycheck...good luck in another industry.
Another dumb reply. Sure, sink all of your money in a business when you no background in successfully running a business and putting in 60-70 hours a week and all of the permits, regulations and taxes. Or, just get another job making $8-$10/hour. That's a real winner. And don't forget about your health insurance or year end penalty (tax). That will really help the family. It would be nice to actually have a honest and realistic reply.
"What Now, After You Have Lost Your Job?"
Find another one. Or start a business. Just don't sit on your assat home crying in your beer.