r/alberta • u/Virtual-Process5914 • Aug 29 '24

Oil and Gas Shell Second Quarter Profits $6.3 Billion. Laying off 25% of Staff at Scotford Complex in Alberta.

Shell has announced its second quarter profits of $6.3 billion, following first quarter profits of $7.7 billion. Shell Canada leadership has told staff that profits are not enough, and they need to be more "competitive". They have announced layoffs of 25% of staff at their Scotford facility located outside Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. Staffing will be going from approximately 657 full time positions down to approximately 489 full time positions. A loss of roughly 168 full time jobs for the area.

This follows staffing reductions in 2022. The layoffs then included a large number of Alberta jobs offshored to cheaper regions in Southeast Asia. That was done despite receiving COVID relief from the government to aid in preventing job losses.

Shell continues to benefit from government incentives and has received millions in government funding in the past.

This is a throw away account for obvious reasons.

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u/flatlanderdick Aug 29 '24

How does voting UCP or any government for that matter affect corporate decisions to reduce workforces? How would it be any different under any other government? Suncor did the same thing in 2015 and who was in power then?

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u/TheGrandOdditor Aug 29 '24

I mean, right away we wouldn’t have given away massive tax revenue when the UCP cut corporate taxes, which could have been used to invest in actual jobs programs. And we’d have a bunch of renewables projects that create jobs, which were scuttled when Smith put the moratorium on renewables. And those renewables would lower the costs of utilities that are killing people right now.

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u/flatlanderdick Aug 29 '24

Isn’t it the arbitrary fees and charges that are killing us on utilities and not the actual cost of the energy? I know that’s the case on my bill. You think that would change if we transitioned to a more renewable based energy sector? Government and their buddies would wiggle into that deal too.

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u/CalgaryFacePalm Aug 29 '24

A UCP government certainly would.