Oilfield Layoffs

[becker_atc]

We closed an engine overhaul shop, Tulsa office and will be closing our okc office soon I heard. Moving people, firing folks, people may work from home or be dispersed in empty field offices.


Sent via message in a bottle

 

[dieseltech09]

Schlumberger in Ponca laid off some today. One guy with 26 years....out the door. They have laid off 9000 world wide. focusing on senior employees in a lot of instances.

Did they get any kind of severence?

Man that's terrible. When I was laid off from Schlumberger in 2009 the severance was 2 weeks of pay per year of service for non managers and 3 weeks per year for managers.

 

[1krr]

Man, years of record profits and they are dropping people like flies when the going gets a little rough. No severance? Damn... Guess it's fair since they tend to pay better for the same skill set and business is business but this kind of crap is a big portion of why I feel the way I do about the oil/gas industry.

 

[dieseltech09]

That's what happens when companies are ran by a board of directors whose sole purpose is to keep the large shareholders happy.

 

[1krr]

That's what happens when companies are ran by a board of directors whose sole purpose is to keep the large shareholders happy.

Yeah you are speaking the truth there...

 

[dennishoddy]

The entire object of Schlumbergers philosophy is to get rid of the higher paid employees in their acquisition's of different company's around the oil patch. They are using the same tactics that Tboon Pickens used to get where he is at today when he was making his fortune. Dump the senior high paid employees, and replace them with new young blood that is paid entry level.
Instant profit.
Damm the seniority of loyal long term employees.

 

[okietool]

Something else at play n the is the oilfield "geneational gap" .
Right now there are a ton of 60 somethings and 30 somethings.
The younger CEOs have seen and hard the horror stores about the 82 crash.
I think there are some moves being made out of fear.
But no one will go down because they cut expenditures too early, on the other hand, wait too long and your company is finished.

JMO

 

[okietool]

D

Man, years of record profits and they are dropping people like flies when the going gets a little rough. No severance? Damn... Guess it's fair since they tend to pay better for the same skill set and business is business but this kind of crap is a big portion of why I feel the way I do about the oil/gas industry.

Many of the exploration companys run on a dollar in dollar out basis. They are growing a company, there are also circumstances where money was committed and contracts signed based on a cash flow that has been halved.

As long as veterans of the 80s are around they will fear a repeat and act accordingly. It's not like they can put the profits in a savings account to use in the tough times.

By the way, I think the 2000 H&P say they have layed off so far will only be about a quarter of what they lay off before this is over.

 

[dennishoddy]

D


Many of the exploration companys run on a dollar in dollar out basis. They are growing a company, there are also circumstances where money was committed and contracts signed based on a cash flow that has been halved.

As long as veterans of the 80s are around they will fear a repeat and act accordingly. It's not like they can put the profits in a savings account to use in the tough times.

By the way, I think the 2000 H&P say they have layed off so far will only be about a quarter of what they lay off before this is over.

Schlumberger in Ponca is a drill bit Manufacturing company. The 26 year employee was an engineer, and the other long term employees laid off world wide were typically technical/degreed folks that had dedicated their lives to working at the company's before Schlumberger bought them out.
Ponca's Facility was Smith Tool, a major player in the bit manufacturing business before Schlumberger took over.

The previous CEO got a 7 million dollar signing bonus to sell the company to Schlumberger BTW.

 

[TwoForFlinching]

True story Okietool. The oil companies aren't just raking in billions of dollars... they're spending billions of dollars too... Just the nature of exploration. There are booms, there are busts. That risk is why pay is so high. I can remember a time when telling the loan officer "I work for (oil company)" could land you an instant 'no' on the cheapest mortgage. It's historically the 'loose cannon' of industries in this country (along with technology/dotcom companies)

Schlumberger in Ponca is a drill bit Manufacturing company. The 26 year employee was an engineer, and the other long term employees laid off world wide were typically technical/degreed folks that had dedicated their lives to working at the company's before Schlumberger bought them out.
Ponca's Facility was Smith Tool, a major player in the bit manufacturing business before Schlumberger took over.

The previous CEO got a 7 million dollar signing bonus to sell the company to Schlumberger BTW.

Business is a beast. More so these days than in the past. It's easy to feel slighted, used, and abused in those situations... but business is business. Like I constantly tell the entitled generation coming up, a companies job isn't to provide a paycheck to the worker... It's the workers job to make money for the company. Those CEO's don't just fall into their positions, they earn them. There's a reason they make six and seven figures.