Had to lay off 6 people this afternoon

[sammyg2]

Title says it all.
sucks.
They were contractors but some of them have been there close to 20 years, working hard and taking care of business.
It wasn't my decision but it was my responsibility to handle it.
It ain't easy but it made the beers go down easier when I got home.

Tomorrow will be a beotch too, knowing they aren't there and wondering if they'll be OK.

It could be worse. The refinery I used to work at just closed down temporarily and "furloughed" over 500 employees because it costs too much to keep the place open right now.

Crude oil costs almost as much as what we're selling wholesale gasoline for, it's a losing proposition.

[ben parrish]

That sux Sammy! Things will work out for them.
So, are you saying that crude is costing the same as you are selling gas for? If so, we are instore for one hell of a price jump as soon as the economy picks up. Any sooner, and it would drive the US deeper into our recession.
Is this your thought, coming from the industry?

Ben

[ben parrish]

Crude is what $78 today? Gas locally is selling for 2.50gallon/137.50 barrel. With all the taxes tacked on for the consumer, you are literally only making pennies at best.
We are headed for another economic down turn..no way around it.

[elwood-914]

The economy's picking up?
The school district where I work is saying $21 million in the hole, = more layoffs

[legion]

Two externals on my team have been laid off in the past six months. One deserved it (consistently was late on assignments and produced poor results), the other didn't.

[Jim Sims]

Been there, done that. Got out of the oil industry 30 years ago when I noticed the large gaps in the ages of the employees around me - no one hired and many fired during the "bust" times. It is interesting how the "decision makers" manage to avoid personally doing the firing, layoffs, RIFs, right sizing, etc. (insert euphemism of choice here). Damn frustrating to lay off a contractor that does twice the work of the average "permanent" employee. I was fortunate to have outside contacts to help in the location of new jobs for the good people. If they were good, solid workers one can always give them a stellar reference. There are ways to save jobs if there is flexibility and less greed (across the board pay cuts, reduced work weeks, etc. but I don't see much sign of that these days). However all the school teachers around here just took a 2% pay cut to help the district balance the budget. I wonder how long it will be until we meet the Chinese on their way up.

[john70t]

Sorry to hear that Sammy. Americans have grown acustomed to cheap petroleum, but eventually we'll have to get more efficient to stay competative. Hubert's "Peak oil" bell curve is starting to ring.

Warren Buffet is looking at railroads for the future. Much more fuel efficient and less Teamsters.
Berkshire Hathaway investment sends railroad stocks soaring - MarketWatch

[Wickd89]

Difficult thing to do Sammy.
I also work in a "contractor rich" industry and have had to let go a lot of contractors. Most are happy if their 6 month contracts last 1-2 years, so they are thankful for the long runs..
20 Years is a long time; so much that most states consider them employees..

Do what you have to do, to keep the rest employed..

[Joeaksa]

Sorry to hear that. Lets all hope that things start to pick up in the New Year.

[campbellcj]

BTDT. Recently. One of the worst things about management, no question.

[cantdrv55]

My brother will be joining the ranks of the unemployed having received his layoff notice today. He is/was a corporate accounting manager whose job is being outsourced to India.

[azasadny]

Sorry to hear this...

[URY914]

I'm now making $275/wk on unemployment. And that is the most they pay out I've been told.

[sammyg2]

I made some phone calls and I've lined up another job maknig almost the same $$ for at least one of the guys.

Here's what the industry is looking at. Below is a chart showing the crack spread for Los angeles. It compares the cost of a barrel of crude oil to the wholesale price of a barrel of finished product consisting of a pre-determined mix of unleaded regular gas, #2 diesel, and aviation jet fuel. Sorry for the scribbled scale, it didn't get copied so i crudely improvised (punny). The horiz scale is one year. the blue line is current, the grey line is 2008, and the yellow shaded area was budgetted.

It costs about $6.50 a barrel to turn the crude into finished product so if the margin is at $6.50 we break even with no profit.
As you can see we are currently at a 44 cent margin, which means we are not even coming close to making enough the pay the bills.
In the san francisco area the margin is 15 cents.

Refineries are closing down, cutting rates, whatever they have to do. They can't keep producing at a loss like this.
It will turn around but right now it sucks.

[Zef]

I was on an impression that this slow down was behind...That sux a lot.

[red-beard]

Originally Posted by Zef

I was on an impression that this slow down was behind...That sux a lot.

Nope. And no one in this country wants to hire right now, since our Federal Governement is playing with the Health Care system and looking to add Cap and Trade Carbon Taxes. Until the rules are fixed, no one wants to buy.

From 1987-2001, I worked for GE in the Power Generation Division. Though the mid 90's, no one was adding power gen equipment because the EPA was in a major flux on the emission rules. No one wanted to put equipment in, if they might have to do a major retrofit to meet new rules.

Once the EPA rules were set, people could PLAN a business. We then entered a MAJOR power gen equipment bubble, due to the lack of demand for many years.

Once health care "reform" and Cap and Trade are decided, one way or another, people will be able to plan future business and will consider hiring.

[Scott R]

We walked 368 people out today, my team of seven is now 3. They said this isn't the end either.

[red-beard]

Well, you guys are going to Eff up Obama's recovery.

[ben parrish]

Unemployment is now officialy at 10.29%...probably closer to 18%. More layoffs are coming. no doubt about it.
The white house finally admitted that the "stimulus money" did not create the jobs they "hoped" for. DUHHHH... you don't say.

Sammy, good job on trying to help the guys out. Not many would have made the effort.

Ben

[DanielDudley]

Most of the guys I laid off this spring are doing pretty well now, if that is any consolation.