Oil and Gas

Chevron ‘WARNs’ of more layoffs

More bad news for an oil-dependent Lafayette economy that’s beginning to reel amid abysmally low oil prices.

The bad news arrives unabated: Chevron North America today announced that it has issued a WARN — Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification — ahead of possible layoffs in five offices in Lafayette and Covington. The Lafayette offices are at 5750 Johnston St. and 200 Galbert Road.

The company says it will help affected employees find work in other Chevron offices and provide severance packages to those unable to find work elsewhere. A worker’s compensation team has been activated to coordinate post-employment services.

News of this latest round of layoffs — Chevron calls them “possible” but companies rarely issue a WARN unless job losses are imminent — comes just six months after the company announced plans to move its Gulf of Mexico operation in Lafayette to Covington in phases. That process, as ABiz reported in June of last year, was supposed to be completed by the end of 2016.