Massive Downsizing In Oil Sector Brings Acute Pain For The Holidays

quote:

---

Debbie Milks is chief operating officer for Brookwoods Group, a staffing firm that specializes in finding jobs for marketing and communications workers.

"Some of them, this is their second or third time that they've been let go from different oil and gas firms, service companies, and what we're seeing now is some are actually saying, 'Oh my gosh. Maybe it is just time to let it go and get out of here,' " she says.

Milks says her clients are now begging to be placed somewhere more stable than the energy sector, even if it means taking a pay cut of tens of thousands of dollars.

"They know the pink slips are coming, and they hear the talk. There's a lot of stress associated with that, and then the holidays — it doesn't make it any better," she says.

Companies can take steps to manage that stress. If they make sure employees feel they're being treated fairly during layoffs, those who remain are more likely to concentrate on doing their jobs. But Brent Smith, who teaches industrial psychology at Rice University, says that's not happening.

"The magnitude of the downsizing is quite large. So it's very difficult to accomplish that in a manner that probably is going to be perceived as fair and equitable by the surviving employees," Smith says.

The Greater Houston Partnership is predicting metro Houston will lose another 9,000 energy jobs in 2016. That will include more cuts at Schlumberger, which is finalizing its multibillion-dollar merger with Cameron International.

---