Thread regarding Chevron Corp. layoffs

I'm a pretty old fart (61) and never had any trouble getting a job after quitting the positions that I did not like. I'm not sure that I believe all the whining and blaming that you read around sites like this. You need to really put forth an effort, be presentable, get along, and do your job. Too many youngsters these days think that they are entitled to a free ride is all, from cradle to grave and think that they can be belligerent about it. You need to make your life and build your career. It's no ones' responsibility but your own.

Moderators please don't be unconstitutional, anti-first amendment and delete my completely innocuous post unless you wish to simply confirm that you are part of the leftist/dumbing down of America MSM. Thanks.

@mrkw, That is why everyone should educate themselves, to save and invest their money wisely all their adult life. Live within their means. The goal should be to retire financially by their 55th birthday. I was laid off at 58 and was already financially prepared for retirement. I also got a nice severance check to boot. Now retired and enjoying life.

Social programs will bankrupt someone. It will either be the government or big business. Right now big business is winning. It won’t last. If American workers are not able to sustain themselves and their families, it will be a problem. Of Biblical proportions. So all these seemingly insignificant decisions being made by management add up. Laying off older workers will be the status quo. It will eventually destroy the economy or the stock market. Not sure there is a difference there. The math doesn’t lie.

I understand you now, @kkwk. Balancing the societal costs of affordable healthcare and income without greatly upsetting the US economy and national debt is very difficult, but it is more manageable if the political element in this country can be handled better.

I agree with you. The point is big business is laying off older workers to cut cost. You say universal health care or universal basic income will be paid for by big business. I agree with that. The government can’t just keep printing money. So laying off old people now to shave cost will actually cost more in the future. But if you are holding stock in the company, who cares? It is somebody else’s problem.

That’s great, @kbwy. Math doesn’t lie and after years of research, you’ve formed an opinion. I posted my opinion below as @jujm. Do you agree or have something different to say?

With 58” waistline, I recommend applying for deputy sheriff. Pay isn’t great but free donuts.

I have researched this for years. I have formed an opinion. I do math really good. Anyone can believe what they want. Math doesn’t lie.

@kvmm, There’s ample information and debate online for you to research and form your own opinion. If you are truly interested in the subject, why not your own search if you are smart enough to connect the dots.

The only thing expanding is my 58 inch waistline. How am I going to survive on universal basic income when I gorge on 35 donuts every day.

jujm you are the smartest guy yet to respond. I only ask you to expand your thinking about cause and effect. You are smart enough to connect the dots.

Agreed. Which is exactly why laying off older employees is counterproductive in the long term. Sooner or later someone has to pay for it.

@joax, You need to make a paradigm shift in your thinking to understand the change that will be coming. Universal Healthcare will be paid for by two things; taxes on the employee and employer and an overall reduction of medical and pharmaceutical costs. Universal Basic Income will essentially be paid for by big business, since it’s large industrial/commercial enterprises that will be saving hundreds of $millions through automation and robotics. Taxes imposed on these enterprises will be the means by which government uses to provide income balance to everyone over 45 who are not working due to modernization.

Universal healthcare or universal basic income. Where does that money come from? Debt or taxes. Either way the employed are screwed.

That is our government. Lots of talk. Nothing ever gets done. Just sound bites.

@julw, The government of today is nothing like it was before Reagan. It gets worse every 4 years and not necessarily at the White House, but worse everytime with our Congress. Who knows if Medicare Insurance will ever be granted to those below 65 anytime. Something will be done soon, though. Maybe it will be Universal Healthcare or Universal Basic Income pay for the unemployed starting at 45 years of age. There’s a lot of talk and support growing in the US for this.

I am 60. Whether I am mature or not is another matter. The discussion is about companies deciding to lay-off anyone over 40 (or 50 - both discussions are in play). So what happens between 40 and 65? No job, no insurance. Someone replied to me that the government would just change the Medicare rules and cover at a lower age. If you read the entire thread, you could see that.

Actually I have a better idea that will avoid the heavy tax burden on the reduced employed population. Just nationalize the oil industry. Easy money for the government.

You make my point perfectly. You assume that older unemployed people who don’t qualify for Medicare or other government programs under the current rules will somehow get coverage under new and necessary guidelines such that the government will take care of them. That will cost trillions. Fortunately we will have you to pay the taxes to cover it.

I don't think it is age discrimination per se. Instead, too many short-sighted managers start to look for best opportunities to place their "high-Po's" and that (sometimes) results in pushing out a veteran employee to create that opportunity.

I thought the last fool that I reported to fell into that mindset because he felt it would curry favor from his boss. Bottom line: hire and retain productive workers (no matter their age) and let them produce. Please don't think 3 PMPs a year correlates to a well-managed employee. PS Retirement provides a refreshing new perspective on careers :)

@gfjg, The entire US healthcare system— doctors, hospitals, d--g manufacturers and the insurance companies are all complicit with the government. We live in a country where our very health is used as a ransom to enrich the medical, pharmaceutical and insurance systems. The industry, in turn, lobby the government to keep them depending on their donor money for re-election. It’s a vicious circle where one feeds the other at the expense of the citizenry. Other developed countries have adequate and cutting edge healthcare, but don’t have anywhere close the high costs seen in the United States. Is there any wonder? The answer is simple. In the US, we are held hostage by our own government and an industry that keeps taking more and more of our hard earned money. People need to wake up. This has got to end.

Continuing the extrapolation, the olds will die off. They will have 20 years or more before they can qualify for Medicare and no income to pay for health insurance. Since young people, statistically speaking, largely don’t need doctors, medical costs will skyrocket so that doctors can maintain their lifestyles. Of course far fewer doctors and hospitals will be needed so this will add to the unemployment pool. Another industry wiped out. The government could lower the age for Medicare to 45. More taxes will be needed on the young people to cover these costs. Another option would be to replace all American doctors with H1B doctors.

Don’t be too worried, @ewth. The 26 year old youngster did you a favor. Once he realizes he can dump a 50+year old woman for a 21 year old shapely young tart, your ex will learn what a mistake she made. Don’t take her back. Once a traitor, always a traitor.

My 50 year old wife left me for a 26 year old. Does that count?

If you extrapolate the idea that older employees (40s or 50s depending on your personal opinion), then why would anyone ever get a college degree? You get a STEM degree because you believe it will make your career. Once you realize that a career is only 15 years and then you have to fend for yourself the remainder of your life, better to skip college and become a plumber or electrician. You get an extra four to six years of income and no college to pay and you can work till you drop. Unfortunately corporations will not see it until it is too late. The brain drain will be massive. Universities will be far and few between and even more expensive. There is no strategy here - just cost cutting. Of course, as with all corporate management teams, they don’t care. By then, they will be long retired and it will be somebody else’s problem. But I get the animosity. When the music stops, there will be fewer chairs and everybody wants a chair.

That is why the EEOC was created and the ADEA passed. I totally agree that age discrimination is great for corporations and, more importantly, share holders. But age discrimination is bad for governments because the required social programs to make up the difference and care for the unemployed elderly (over 40’s) cannot be paid for. Not without taxes. Or maybe we should all be turned into Soylent Green? Government subsidies and Socialism is doing great in Venezuela. Socialists never can comprehend that money doesn’t appear out of thin air except in a Vegas magic show. They are great about spending someone else’s money.

If you choose to live in a capitalist society you have to live by the modus operandi. Companies are not interested in whether you are 10 yrs old or 110, but they are interested in economics and unit cost. As soon as you become more a problem, or a burden, than a solution then you get kicked out. If this doesn’t appeal then socialism might be your saviour.

And the EEOC just to offer some protection but not any more.

Age discrimination is not a term invented recently created. It was in the ADEA law passed in 1967

Who uses 'lol' other than a youngster or an immature older person who wants to act cool. If your project gets canceled or severely cut back, it is the older AND more expensive employees who have the target on their back. It is all about cost cutting.

Spoken like a real 20-30 something year old, @zjq. Keep dreaming, kiddo. When you’re in your late 50s and definitely in your 60s, you will encounter the invisible wall, then you’ll remember this post.

Noooo, surely not, OP!!? Nobody at Chevron would EVER discriminate or act unethically for ANY reason at Chevron. Not a chance at all.... Not Chevron, noooooo…..

Age discrimination, yes but in the employees favour. I know several in their late fifties who requested packages and early retirement and got it. Left with two years salary (non US), a pension all be it reduced slightly and some are now working full or part time.

Age discrimination is real. It is not a myth. The best outcome is to seek employment as a contractor, not a regular full time salaried employee.

It’s ‘snowflake’, not ‘snoflake’ you dumba$$ loser.

No, That's a liberal myth. I have never experienced it nor have any of my peers. You will be hired and paid according to your worth to the employer and value that you can provide. IF you can not provide it at any given age (old, young or otherwise), the point is that you cannot provide it (at age 70 or 20), not that you are a certain age. Get over it, snoflakes. So many old and young folks think that they are entitled to something, such as being paid for less work because you've been there for a while, that it's becoming quite laughable. Sooner or later they are going to run out of reasons that they should be compensated for doing nothing, then all the snoflakes will melt............

It depends. If you’re pushing 60, definitely there is age discrimination going on. I’d like to continue working until I’m 65 or 66, but am being turned away at every turn. I have a college degree in a field that’s in demand and I have over 25 years experience in O&G industry administrative and technical areas. But try as I do, I cannot get an interview at companies who can profit from my skill sets, even when pat is not my first priority. They hire younger people instead. Discrimination? Yes, it does exist and it’s everywhere, only it’s disguised, hushed and pretended to not exist.

Never have. Unemployment is at a 50 year low. If you're not getting hired, it's not them, it's you.