No one will be laid off this week or next week if they happen it will be Jan 5th after the holidays so hope it comes back up a bit before then.

I am lucky to be a part of an O and G company that is very diversified and we are still actually doing quite well.

Hope the prices come back up a bit for you guys wouldn't want to see any friends lose their jobs

 

I am hoping for a big turn around in Jan, but I doubt we are going to see it.

Right now the hardest hit companies are the mega-project clients. Anything from PetroCanada, Husky, Suncor or Shell is being either scrapped or scaled down and stretched out to reduce cost. It is translating directly into mass layoffs because the Engineering firms, fab shops and suppliers for these companies are basically having their income chopped by anywhere from 30%-100%.

Justin is right about the smaller companies, they will start to suffer pretty soon as a trickle down effect.

The sweetspot is going to be O&G firms with about 100 to 1000 people and not a lot of overhead. They will be able to lay off a small amount of unnecessary staff and keep a thinner crew committed to working on scaled back jobs long enough for things to turn around.

If you ask me, the only stable jobs right now are all in SAGD jobs ( Steam assisted gravity drainage - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia ) because they are more affordable, can be done in smaller phases and operational costs per barrel are lower than strip mining & process facilities. Some of the upgrader jobs might be ok as well beause they will yield more production without as much investment. There might also be a few upgrader jobs kept alive to reduce greenhouse gases thanks to government subsidies.

Bottom line is that most current non-mega projects have funding at least until mid Feb. Everybody I have talked to in my field who at different firms all have the same story. Unless there is a positive spin there is going to be a lot of job losses.

 

I do not work directly for O&G, but as mentioned we in Alberta and many parts of Canada are jammed up by the cheapness of oil right now. Look at condo prices in Victoria and other playgrounds of the oil money set. Frankly, we ought to be paying the real cost for oil and that is a lot more than $38. Double the price and we keep looking for alternatives to the stupidity and waste of oil for the average person.

Get gas prices at the same place as in Europe for a start and we all start to seek better transportation methods. Add the cost of wars to defend the oil flow and well for example the USA could have near free medical care and real education for all. Not to mention good people not getting killed and injured for oil. Same goes for Canada, we need off this oil tit. Now jets, semi-trucks, etc are kind of stuck using oil school technology for now but really does anyone need any more car than a Honda Fit? Really? Seems Europeans and Asian countries get by fine with cars starting at the micro level. Add a roof rack if you need the space, how often does one really need it?

The bell has rung, Honda leaving F1, Subaru and Suzuki out of WRC. These are Japanese companies who operate to the bone as is, they unplug their computers at night to same a few yen. Big moves which mean losing face, Subaru not in WRC....Subaru is the WRC. Like Team Canada not being in the final four of hockey, or anything less than winning the gold in Whistler. Just not imaginable.

Save your loonies, we are in for a bit of a ride, cut back where you can, pack a lunch for work and skip the cafe....our grandparents did this and some still do it today. They had an different mentality, survival and saving for days like these. Hell if a coffee is more than $1.70 my parents think it is overpriced. Needless to say, StarBucks is going to need to go on without my money, not that I would drink their crude java anyway.

Things can change on a dime, until then I am in the bunker, spending-wise.

 

haha, I am taking shelter too...
*follows kamakurakid into the bunker*

All I know is my way of life is pretty much toast if the oil industry collapses.

Traditionally my field of work has jobs that pay 4 to 5 times less than this niche job I have here and it usually comes with questionable working conditions.

Right now I have a nice office with a window, get to surf the internet at work and come onto FF to talk, lots of company events and activities with a good team. Life is good; but similar work in Vancouver would be working in a dark unheated warehouse (they turn the lights off to save energy... I am not kidding, I toured a place like this) with no access to interenet with a screaming lunatic who threatens your job every couple of days to get more production out of you... oh and the 5 times less salary thing sucks too.

lol, forgive me if I cling to the good life I am seriously looking at a Hummer right now to do my part and spike oil demand