My 25 Years at Baker Hughes
My first stint with Baker Hughes was almost 10 years, but I was laid off in July of 2009. This week, August 15th, would have been 15 more years with Baker Hughes. But I was laid off in March. So, I had just short of 25 years with Baker.
Before joining Baker in 1999, my longest position had been less than three years. Most were less than a single year. I’d worked a few temp jobs to put myself through college…some I’d only considered temporary; some were through temp agencies. Every job was temporary in my mind. “Never get comfortable,” I’d say.
But Baker was different. I got comfortable. It was the first job that didn’t involve at least some manual labor. I’d been a delivery driver, an assembler (both job shop and assembly line), and an inventory coordinator (which expanded to several other positions as coworkers jumped ship ahead of the company’s bankruptcy).
I started at Baker in Order Management (aka Customer Service). I enjoyed helping people get what they needed, and it turned out I had a knack for it. After a few years, I was promoted to Order Management Supervisor, but that was short-lived due to one of our famous “reductions in force” (we had too many chiefs, not enough Indians). After that, I transferred to the company headquarters which was much closer to home. It was the same job, but the same pay except for the gas savings. After a couple years, the Engineering department said, “Hey, come be our customer service guy…just clarify what the customer needs before we start the design work.” “Okay, I’ll give it a shot.” My official title was Engineering Technologist. I enjoyed it even more than Order Management. I did a lot more than just clarifying design specs. I learned a lot about the products. I hung around some of the nerdier employees…good people! But then again, RIFs happened. And there I was in an engineering department without an engineering degree. This was the 2009 recession, and it didn’t take much to justify a good old-fashioned RIFfing. So, I spent a couple of years working temp jobs again, including working for my mom doing electrical assembly.
Then a Baker-buddy sent me a message about an opening in Order Management. I jumped at it. I remember in my interview (with another old Baker-buddy), I said something along the lines, “I bleed Baker-blue!” That probably sealed the deal, but I meant it. I wanted more than anything to go back to Baker. And I enjoyed it more than ever…seeing old friends and places, and the old familiar tasks…it was comfortable.
A year later, a position opened in Key Accounts for a Project Manager. I was reluctant at first. It was a high-profile position, dealing with external customers. But my manager spoke to me about it and said if I applied, I’d get it. So, I did, and it turned out great. I wound up working for the best boss I could ever hope for. It was challenging. I handled some very high-profile projects for Exxonmobil, Total, Equinor, BP, and others. One or two had priority over everything else in the plant. My first big project was for XOM in Kurdistan and included some exotic nickel for some 13-3/8” mandrels…exotic and erratic during machining and temperature swings. Then the Kara Sea project in northern Russia. We’d just delivered it when XOM had to pull out due to sanctions following the Crimea invasion. Soon after, the equipment for XOM’s Black Sea project was stranded because of the same issue…we had to find a new home for that stuff and that took a couple of years. It was a stressful job. So much so, I’d started to look at options. But my boss hired some help during the worst of it. That kept me put and comfortable. I spent eight years in that role and would have happily finished my career there.
Then came the price war between Russia and Saudi. Oil prices dropped below $30. Worse, covid struck soon after, the economy closed, no one drove, and the price of oil went negative. You couldn’t give oil away. Then, more RIFs and my job was eliminated. But I’d earned a couple of APICS certs (CPIM and CSCP) which I think saved me from the RIF. I was transferred to the Global Materials group as a Planner. At first, I just worked on aged transactions…closing/deleting/completing, etc. It was pretty boring, but effective at cleaning up old data ahead of MRP roll-outs worldwide. Then I helped with training our planners around the world…making sure they were doing the right things the right way. Then, I was given responsibility for planning certain products in our Distribution Centers in Houston and Dubai…not a lot, but at least a little more interesting. Then, I was assigned to be the bad guy…approving/rejecting excess stock exceptions. Then, approving/rejecting purchase reqs by validating demand. If I didn’t think you needed something, you didn’t get it. It was the opposite of my original Order Management function. And it was no longer boring. Management put increasingly strict rules on inventory, and I followed them to the letter. Still, inventory continued to grow. I’d survived a couple rounds of RIFs in this position, but they finally got me last March. The price of oil was high (thanks to a skirmish with Iran) and the Baker stock was high. But so was inventory. I guess they decided I was the reason (though I hadn’t approved any orders outside of their strict demand rules).
I’d been working from home for six years (since) covid), and that was nice…I was very comfortable with my home office. I’d survived several rounds of lay-offs and each time, more work was given to those who’d remained. Or people would leave or transfer and were never replaced. I was expected to take on more and more responsibilities. The stress and the long hours took their toll. If I hadn’t been laid off, I’d have been looking for something else anyway. I saw it as a blessing in disguise.
A few weeks ago, Baker announced they would close their Emmott Road plant. This was the headquarters when they were known as Baker Oil Tools. This was where the great majority of my orders had been built. I worked there for sixteen years (minus the two year involuntary hiatus). There are nearly two hundred people there who will soon join me in the hunt for a new job. It’s a sad thing. Not to mention the closure of many other plants: the one where I’d begun working for Baker across town on Navigation Blvd., the one in Broken Arrow, Oklahoma, the one in Aberdeen, Scotland, the one on the north side of town on Rankin Road, and recently the one just down the road on Hollister (now a pile of rubble). Seems like a lot of people to lay-off or displace in just the last eight years or so.
Not to disparage Baker Hughes. Baker taught me a lot about business, oil & gas, completions equipment, and about life in general. I met and worked with some wonderful people there. In fact, I had lunch with some of them yesterday…including the best boss ever. I wouldn’t be who I am without this twenty-five-year experience. But you know, companies change over time…so do employees for that matter. And this is an industry well known for cyclical lay-offs. We are always on alert. This was my second time getting it from Baker…there won’t be a third.
So now I’m ready to start over. Though, I’m not really starting from scratch…I’m older, wiser, and much more confident than I ever was in the past. I know how to manage an order, a project, or a supply chain. I know how to get results without the benefit of authority to make those results happen. I have the skills. I know materials, processes, and teamwork.
Put me in, coach!
– Big Steve