How Bad Are Pioneer’s Job Cuts? At Over 27% of Workers, They’re Deeper Than After 9/11 and the Financial Crisis

In the days after 9/11, when consumers cut back on travel and the public was still grieving over the terror attacks, scores of companies announced major layoffs. The economy had suffered a shocking hit and businesses had to respond accordingly.“I have declared a state of emergency at American Airlines,” then-CEO Don Carty said on Sept. 19, 2001. “This declaration is an official recognition that, hard as it may be to accept, our company’s very survival depends on dramatic change to our operations, our schedule, and worst of all, our staffing levels.”American, one of the region's largest employers, announced 20,000 layoffs.United matched the number, Continental cut 12,000, and Boeing said it would eliminate 30,000 positions.As jarring as those numbers were, they’re not as deep as the job cuts recently made at Pioneer Natural Resources — not when calculated as a share of the workforce.The Irving oil and gas company has eliminated 877 jobs since the beginning of the year, including 300 people who earlier accepted buyouts and 230 who were involuntarily laid off last week. In total, that’s 27.6% of Pioneer’s workforce.By comparison, American was laying off 14% of workers in 2001. Boeing was over 15% and Continental, 21%.  Continue reading...