A calendar month ago , Exxon denied a paper that it was considering layoff as a way toensure shareholders got their dividends . But it seems that the companionship may have not been entirely truthful .
line Insiderreceived a leaked emailto employees saying that “ we continue to see prolonged negative grocery store shock that take us to make further changes so we are best place to take advantage of market improvements when they occur . ” The document later adds : “ As part of our dedication to foil , we want to make it clearthat these studies will let in evaluation of appropriate staffinglevels . We recognize these feat bringuncertainty and anxiety . ”
While the electronic mail does n’t reportedly set a timeline for when layoffs could happen or where , it appears the fellowship is planning for muscle contraction into 2021 and could place cutting job in the U.S. and outsourcing them oversea where labor is cheaper .
The pandemic has led need for oil to plunge , and at least some Exxon ’s competitors do n’t really see it returning . In belated April , Shell ’s CFO state the coronavirus had pass to “ major requirement destruction that we do n’t even live will total back . ” While that may have been a scrap spectacular with rock oil role claw slow back from thebiggest need fall in history , the toll of oil still rest low and demand is expected to stay below the high-pitched water mark it hit in 2019 .
All that could have Exxon looking to cut back its operations , adding to the crude turn the companionship has gone through . The past month or so alone , the company has declare itsbiggest losses on record , reported that could see20 % of its reserves become unproved assetsdue to miserable prices , and ended ahistoric run on the Down Jones . These are all clear signs of hurt . To me , it would be near to cut the dividend payout to stockholder and find ways to support proletarian as much as potential during a metre of economic incertitude . But then this is probably why I ’m not a CEO .
All that articulate , it does sharpen to a realness we ’ve prove here at Earther time and again : that we are entering a very dangerous period of time for people working in the fossil fuel industry . The pandemic is quicken trends that were already afoot as the earth finally bug out to turn away from crude oil and flatulency . Some companies like Exxon are seek to preserve the good time as long as possible , some like Shell are taste to become nebular “ muscularity companies , ” and smaller firm are going belly up . But regardless , the time to come of a world that relies a mint less on fossil fuel — and eventually not at all on them — is coming , and that entail a life-threatening changeover for fossil fuel worker .
In the U.S. alone , the industry shed astaggering 118,000 jobsfrom March to July . That ’s a small - sized city of masses out of work , but the effects of those layoff ripple out into the residential district that have bounce up around oil jobs . Exxon could add to that total .
With companionship bequeath worker hung out to dry out , the need tofocus on a just transitionto the 21st century has never been clear . While the Trump government has been really unreasoning to this , funneling money to dodo fuel companiesandderegulating the industryin an attempt to keep it afloat , the Democratic presidential candidate and former Vice President Joe Biden ’s programme also some holes in it . Biden ingeminate on Monday that hewouldn’t ban fracking , andhe alongwithcongressional Democratshave go wrong to put forward a plan to end fogy fuels and aid for workers affected by that fallout .
Is it politically expedient ? Sure . But the realness is , a just conversion is perhaps the most important program politicians need to be working on right now . The pandemic is making the injustice of job departure a world with even massive company like Exxon turning layoff . couch off experience substantial , adult conversations about what come after oil will only make the coming , even steeper declination labor by the clime crisis that much hard .
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