Chevron North America may lay off as many as 385 employees in five office locations in Covington and Lafayette.
The announcement came Friday morning from the Louisiana Workforce Commission. Chevron sent Andre France, Louisiana's Rapid Response coordinator for LED, a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification, or WARN notice, on Thursday.
Leah Brown, manager of Policy, Government and Public Affairs for Chevron, told France in the letter that Chevron, "in light of the current market environment," was increasing efficiencies, reducing costs and prioritizing projects in the Gulf of Mexico."
Three hundred eighty-five employees could be laid off, including 45 offshore workers and 340 employees at the following offices:
- 100, 109 and 114 Northpark Blvd., Covington
- 111 Park Place Drive, Covington
- 205 Holiday Blvd., Covington
- 5750 Johnston St., Lafayette
- 200 Galbert Road, Lafayette
The Daily Advertiser reported last June that Chevron planned to close the Johnston Street office by the end of 2016.
In her letter to France, Brown said the staff reductions would begin April 4 and be mostly completed by June 7. Some employees will be offered what she called "transition roles."
In June, Chevron said it would keep a training facility on Galbert Road open. In her letter, Brown confirmed Thursday the center would be maintained.
Brown also said Chevron would try to place as many workers as possible elsewhere at Chevron sites. Those who lose their jobs will be offered severance under the terms of the company's plan.
"We do not know the number of impacted employees at various sites of employment who will be redeployed within Chevron, and whether the number of employees ultimately let go at those sites will trigger the WARN Act."
Companies are required to file WARN notices under the federal Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification Act if there is a full plant closure resulting in 50 or more employees losing their jobs in any 30-day period or if there is a mass layoff during any 30-day period, LWC said in an issued statement.
A layoff is considered a mass layoff if it is more than 500 employees or if it is between 50 and 499 employees and comprises 33 percent or more of the active workforce at that particular site.
LWC said the agency's Rapid Response personnel are in the process of coordinating the delivery of re-employment services with the company, including information on unemployment insurance benefits, résumé and interview skills training and job-searching tools.
Affected employees also are welcome to visit their local Business and Careers Solutions Centers, LWC said in an issued statement.
Chevron confirmed in a June 26 Advertiser story that it would consolidate its offices in Lafayette and Covington in 2016, moving Lafayette employees to Covington and closing the Johnston Street facility. That move would affect as many as 300 employees, the company said then.
Chevron's moves reflect an industry downturn that drove commodity prices for oil from more than $100 a barrel in summer 2014 to around $30 in recent weeks. The company said recently it had suffered its first money-losing quarter since 2002 in the fourth quarter of 2015. Pipeline & Gas Journal reported that Chevron, based in California, lost $588 million from October through December. The company earned $4.59 billion for the year.
It also signaled a reversal in fortune for the company, which started 2015 by announcing important Gulf of Mexico discoveries.
In January 2015, Chevron announced a "significant" oil discovery in the Gulf of Mexico some 140 miles south of Louisiana in the Anchor prospect. It had earlier announced the Guadalupe Discovery west of the Anchor prospect, also described as an important find.
Later in January 2015, Chevron announced it would partner with BP and ConocoPhillips to explore and appraise as many as 24 jointly held leases in the Keathley Canyon in the Gulf.
