Big job cuts loom at Chevron
The long-expected jobs cull at Chevron is set to start in earnest after 4000 staff were told over the past week to prepare for the company's transition from constructor of LNG projects to operator.
Chevron will not put a figure on the likely cuts but there is an expectation the 4000-strong WA team could be cut in half by the time the Gorgon and Wheatstone projects begin operations.
A Chevron spokesman confirmed today the transition from builder to operator was underway and said it was "undertaking a review to have the right skills and competencies in place to meet our future operations requirements".
But the spokesman said it would not speculate "on what the final numbers will be" beyond confirming there would be some targeted redundancies on top of the cessation of development project-related work.
_WestBusiness _revealed today that Woodside Petroleum had accelerated its push to cut another about 300 positions across its operations, with many of the roles to be culled this week.
Woodside chief executive Peter Coleman cited the tough external conditions brought about by a plummeting oil price as the reason for the cuts.
His counterpart at Chevron, Australia managing director Roy Krzywosinski, told staff in an internal communication "it is now time to start aligning the broader organisation and work processes to meet the future needs of our business".
"During this period, we will be reviewing all permanent and temporary positions with the aim of having the right skills and competencies in place to meet our future requirements," Mr Krzywosinski said.
"This will result in some targeted redundancies and early termination of contracts.
"What this specifically means for each department will vary and your management team member or supervisor will be providing further details in due course."
Gorgon is supposed to become fully operational later this year, followed by Wheatstone towards the end of next year, marking the end of a construction boom that is currently employing more than 10,000 Chevron staff and contractors.
On top of the end of construction, Chevron is thought to be trying to trim its operational structure to allow for the weak oil price environment.It is understood that Chevron's Australian communications team will be trimmed from about 70 positions to about 40, in line with the cuts across the various business units.
