Shell issues 12% pay cut ultimatum to IT contractors

TheRegister.co.uk ^ | 07/08/2009 | Kelly Fiveash

[Zathras]

Royal Dutch Shell has reportedly told its UK-based IT contractors they will be asked to quit if they fail to accept a 12 per cent pay cut.

According to Contractor UK, the multinational company wrote to its IT contractors last month, informing them of its plan to slash rates as part of a cost-cutting exercise.

It warned IT contractors who were unwilling to accept the cut that their job role at Shell could be axed.

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By April 2008, Shell had set adrift most of its IT staff after it inked three outsourcing deals - worth $4.2bn over five years - to spin out its IT and telecoms operations to EDS, AT&T and T-Systems.

[Zathras]

Two in one day, a record for me.

[Glenn]

Two in one day, a record for me.

What do you mean?

[AppyPappy]

He’s killing flies

[Minn]

after it inked three outsourcing deals

They cost 1/3 as much. They take 4 times longer to get anything done. And as soon as you train them, they quit.

[Lazamataz]

You get what you pay for. I can adapt to any system within hours, program in any language within minutes, and put out substantial product within 2 days of arrival to the facility. If you want one of the best, you pay for it.

[theknuckler_33]

I guess they don’t want the best and the brightest.

[driftdiver]

‘program in any language within minute’

I agree you get what you pay for, but ANY Language?

[dragonblustar]

They’ll look for cheap labor from India.

[US Navy Vet]

If my company did this to me ALL of their computers would DIE as soon as I cleared the door!

[Mad Dawgg]

"You get what you pay for. I can adapt to any system within hours, program in any language within minutes, and put out substantial product within 2 days of arrival to the facility. If you want one of the best, you pay for it."

Laz is not lying either he showed me pics from his last job where they asked him to work wearing nothing but a hefty coating of body oil and a smile.

He CAN adapt to any working conditions! ;)

[Nervous Tick]

>> I can adapt to any system within hours, program in any language within minutes, and put out substantial product within 2 days of arrival to the facility. If you want one of the best, you pay for it.

...and that’s just what you do while you’re waiting for your Free Republic browser to refresh (on Monitor 4).

You da man!

[SpinnerWebb]

Ping to you!

[Nervous Tick]

>> I agree you get what you pay for, but ANY Language?

Hell, *I* can program in any language within minutes as well. Just show me a decent-sized example of the syntax.

No big deal.

Mind you, if you’re concerned with semantics... like, maybe you want the code to compile and run... well, that’s extra. :-)

[theknuckler_33]

Probably. *sigh*

[Myrddin]

PacBell did this to the internal IT staff in 1991. Over 6,000 people left with "early retirement" buyouts. They thought they would save money. They didn't count on most of their best and brightest heading out the door. The corporate memory was gone. Over 360 projects came to a grinding halt. Most were never able to be resurrected. The attempts to outsource were mostly failures due to loss of the corporate memory. The people swinging the budget axes aren't always the sharpest tools in the shed. The bad news it that the damage is often as irreparable as an actual beheading. If I was a stock holder, I would be looking to some other company as an investment. The brief bump in stock price from the cost cutting will precede a big loss when reality sets in.

[Zathras]

I don't usually post.
The big guys usually get there before me.

[Tijeras_Slim]

And both of them cheerful and uplifting!

[tx_eggman]

Ping to you!

Please Pa Shell .. don't throw me in the briar patch ....

[2banana]

asked to quit

What does that mean? I will say no.

[Zathras]

My brother used to work for Shell as an factory manager and lead engineer and used to LOVE this company.
He retired 5 years ago because he saw what it had become.