Oxy takes pride in being a responsible employer, committed to treating every employee with dignity and respect and providing a safe, hospitable and quality work environment. Oxy’s success is built on technical expertise, business acumen, strong partnerships and proven ability to deliver superior results.
Attracting, developing and retaining talented individuals is key to the sustainability of our business. Oxy continues to promote a diverse workplace where employees have numerous opportunities for training and professional growth.
Employment data
At the end of 2008, Oxy employed approximately 10,400 people worldwide, including 6,900 located in the United States. Approximately 6,200 people are employed in Oxy’s oil and gas, midstream and marketing operations; 3,100 in Oxy’s chemical operations; and 1,100 in administrative and headquarters functions. Approximately 800 U.S.-based employees and 200 foreign-based employees are represented by labor unions.
Oxy employees in the U.S. have an average length of service of 15 years. This strong retention rate is an indicator of our employees’ long-term satisfaction.
The oil and gas and chemical industries face the significant challenge of replacing a generation of employees who are nearing retirement, and Oxy is no exception. To help meet this challenge, Oxy has focused on attracting engineering and technical professionals with transferable skills from outside the industry to join Oxy on fast development paths.
Training and education
Employee development at Oxy is a planned, collaborative process with shared responsibility between employee and manager in order to balance individual development needs with the company’s business requirements. Our goal is to provide employees at all levels with access to the resources needed to build the knowledge, skills and abilities required for success, not only in their current position, but also for ongoing development and future opportunities.
Oxy utilizes a variety of training methods promoted through a dedicated employee development function. Training opportunities include self-directed online courses, a worldwide lending library, team-building sessions, open enrollment and targeted workshops, trade conference participation, professional certifications and memberships, specialized technical training for facility operators, educational tuition assistance, mentorships and leadership development programs. Comprehensive training programs have been developed for our international locations to meet their unique challenges.
Recognizing the growing importance of peer-to-peer training and learning opportunities, Oxy also has encouraged the grass-roots development of knowledge-sharing team web sites and communities of interest and practice.
Our Learning Management System delivers and tracks technical, safety, health, environmental and personal training from the oil well and plant to the executive office. In 2008, 350,000 training records were completed across the organization.
As a global company, we value the ability to communicate and work effectively with people from a wide variety of backgrounds and cultures. Over the past two years, more than 250 employees have taken advantage of online language training, provided by Oxy, to learn or improve their skills in Arabic, Spanish or English.
Diversity and equal opportunity
Oxy is an Equal Opportunity Employer, committed to providing equal opportunities in all aspects of employment and a workplace free from unlawful discrimination, hostility and harassment where rights to freedom of association and collective bargaining are respected. Any hostility toward, discrimination against or harassment of any employee based on age, color, gender, sexual orientation, national origin, religion or any racial, ethnic or other personal characteristic is a violation of Oxy’s policies. Oxy reaffirms and reinforces its commitments by reissuing its Equal Employment Opportunity Policy annually.
Oxy supports external business-focused groups that address equal opportunity, and encourages internal diversity activities throughout our work force. In addition, Oxy contributes regularly to associations that foster diversity in the professions, such as the John M. Langston Bar Association and the Hispanic National Bar Association. We also actively consider diversity in selecting business partners, vendors and suppliers. Oxy received the 2007 President’s Award from the National Association of Women Lawyers in recognition of our diversity initiatives.
To enhance diversity internally, Oxy actively focuses on training and promoting citizens of the countries in which we operate for jobs at all levels, particularly in key engineering disciplines. This effort both increases diversity at Oxy and enhances sustainable development in our business locations.
OxyChem’s corporate headquarters in Dallas has had an active OxyTower Diversity Committee for more than 10 years, focusing on awareness, education and tolerance. The committee’s volunteer members, who meet monthly, sponsor guest speakers on civil rights and diversity issues for employees and building tenants, nominate a plant each year as the Manufacturing Diversity Innovation Award champion, and publish a calendar of important cultural dates. The committee also prepares and displays “Profiles in Diversity” posters featuring corporate and plant employees.
Representation of women in Oxy’s domestic oil and gas segment, including corporate headquarters functions, is 23 percent, exceeding the industry average of less than 17 percent reported by the BLS. For Oxy’s domestic chemical segment, including corporate headquarters functions, women represent 22 percent of the total, consistent with the industry average reported by the BLS.
Reflecting broader societal trends, Oxy’s gender diversity in engineering and technical positions is increasing as the work force changes. At the close of 2008, 32 percent of Oxy’s “petrotech” employees under age 30 were women, up from 29 percent in 2007.
Ethnic diversity in the workplace also is valued at Oxy; among U.S. employees, minorities represented 24 percent of the total at the end of 2008. Women and minorities represented 38 percent of Oxy’s U.S. work force.
Oxy recognizes that maintaining a healthy balance between work and everyday life is an important factor in encouraging top performance and retaining talented employees. Many work sites offer 9/80 or flexible schedules and other programs to address the needs of Oxy’s diverse work force.