HOUSTON -- The first of 1,200 or more ConocoPhillips workers who could be laid off this month companywide were handed their walking papers Wednesday in Bartlesville and Ponca City, Okla. The Houston-based energy giant is cutting 4% of its 32,000-member work force. The layoffs started Wednesday and will continue through March, according to a report in the Tulsa World.
The job reductions will be based on the company's current business, skill-set needs and relative job performance, ConocoPhillips spokeswoman Tracy Harlow told the newspaper. ConocoPhillips announced [image-nocss] the layoff plan in January.
"It was a very thoughtful process," Harlow said. "We made the best decisions based on what we know today."
CSP Daily News announced in January that much or all of ConocoPhillips' retail-management employees would be looking for new jobs following the completion of the sale of the remaining ConocoPhillips' retail sites to Pacific Convenience & Fuel. A source close to the deal said, "Pacific Convenience & Fuel plans to utilize [Circle K parent company] Couche-Tard's category-management support team as a franchisee, and indicated that they would not offer jobs to any of the [ConocoPhillips] headquarters group." Another source said ConocoPhillips is offering severance packages to those employees.
A ConocoPhillips representative confirmed for CSP Daily News this past week that is has completed the sale of about 75% of the 800 sites Pacific Convenience is purchasing.
Overall, about 4% of the company's approximately 4,600 Oklahoma workers will be laid off, according to the newspaper report. The reduction includes about 5% of 3,200 jobs in Bartlesville, or an estimated 150 people; and less than 4% of the approximately 1,500 refinery and nonrefinery positions in Ponca City.
ConocoPhillips will move another 250 jobs out of Ponca City later this year, including 180 to Houston and 70 to Bartlesville and other locations.
Harlow said employees who are laid off will receive severance pay and outplacement services, such as job-search technology and career coaching. ConocoPhillips announced its layoff plans in January, saying it may spend up to $100 million on severance expenses.
ConocoPhillips enjoyed record profits during oil's run-up to $147 a barrel in the first half of 2008. The second half of the year, however, saw oil and natural gas prices collapse and the company report a $31.8 billion fourth-quarter net loss due to write-downs in the value of its assets.
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