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September 2009

Vol. 14, No. 37 Week of September 13, 2009

Suncor gives exit passes to 1,000

The juggernaut everyone knew was coming showed up — ironically — just two days before the Labor Day weekend.

No one from the top down had tried to hide the inevitable round of layoffs that would follow Suncor Energy’s takeover of Petro-Canada, which created a combined payroll of 12,886.

By the middle of October that number will be down by about 1,000 through a mix of outright layoffs, early retirements and eliminated job contracts.

Mostly, the bleeding will occur in the head office, where there is the greatest overlap in information technology and administration. Engineers and geologists in the natural gas business will also take a hit.

Suncor Chief Executive Officer Rick George, known for his ability to make the tough decisions, said “bringing two large businesses together has also meant that some of the efficiencies are necessarily through work force reductions.”

“It’s been difficult, but we’ve said from the start that this would be the case and worked hard to keep employees informed and to move quickly to build the new organization.”

International to Calgary

A Suncor spokesman would not say how many of the reductions applied to former Petro-Canada employees, emphasizing that “we’re interested in getting the right organization with the right people with the right roles without regard to which company they came from.”

Suncor also announced it would move the international and offshore units, which were part of Petro-Canada, to Calgary from London.

Suncor said it is on track to “meet or exceed” its anticipated operational savings of C$300 million a year and capital efficiencies of C$1 billion by eliminating “redundant spending and targeting capital budgets to high-return, near-term projects.”

A priority list of major projects is expected to be released this fall.

Alberta Premier Ed Stelmach said the job losses are significant and a “great concern to us in government,” but the merger will “make for a much stronger company, one that will attract investment” to the Alberta oil sands on both the production and refining side.

“We will get those (1,000) jobs back, plus many more,” he said.

—Gary Park






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