From this week's C&EN, the outgoing president of ExxonMobil Chemical, Stephen Pryor, makes an interesting claim during his conversation with Alex Tullo:
ExxonMobil also tries to continually improve operations, such as boosting yields or running plants more reliably. Pryor boasts that the chemical company has been able to keep fixed costs nearly flat for a half-dozen years. “The beauty is you never get into slash and burn,” he says. “Even in the crash in 2009, we never laid off one person, we never canceled one project, we never shuttered one facility.”I'd like to know if that's true. A brief Google search indicates that it seems to be true, but I don't know that sector very well.
Likely true as far as permanent employees go, but contractors are a different story and make up a good chunk of the personnel on site. Would like to know his definition of firing and if it includes converting regular employees to contractors who can be fired more easily.
ReplyDeleteNot sure about 2009.... However ExxonMobil has fired plant workers in the past few years, usually with some sort of documented cause.
ReplyDeleteThey have sold plants. They have divested plants. Employees are then at the whims of new employer.