Chevron Laying Off 1,500 As Part Of Downstream Restructuring

U.S. oil major Chevron Corp. (CVX) said Thursday it will lay off nearly 1,500 U.S. workers as part of a broad, global restructuring of the company's downstream businesses.

Chevron has notified employees and community leaders that it will lay off 620 employees in San Ramon, Calif., where the company is headquartered; 305 employees in nearby Concord, Calif.; and 570 in Houston, said Chevron spokesman Sean Comey.

Those job reductions are part of a plan to trim the company's global downstream workforce by 5,700 jobs over three years. The company laid off 1,900 people last year and plans to lay off 3,800 by the end of next year, Comey said.

Comey said the process of reducing Chevron's workforce is difficult and includes "everyone from executives on down." The company is providing laid-off employees with severance packages and help finding new jobs, as well as explaining that the layoffs are due to economic forces, namely more supply than demand, rather than individuals' ability or performance, Comey said.

In March, Chevron said it would cut staff at its crude-oil refining and marketing business by more than 20% due to sluggish fuel demand. Pink slips are also being handed out to employees in the company's downstream lubricants and chemicals businesses, Comey said.

-By Cassandra Sweet, Dow Jones Newswires; 415-439-6468; [e-mail]