Today's complex global environment requires a world-class workforce that reflects the cultures and businesses of countries where we do business. Chevron currently has 40 major capital projects in which Chevron's share is more than $1 billion, requiring additional skilled people across our operations.
Higher energy prices and growth in energy demand have increased investment in our industry, driving greater competition for talented people. In 2007, more than 7,000 new employees were hired. Since 1999, our workforce has grown more than 76 percent to approximately 59,000. Also, our workforce is shifting geographically. In 2007, more than half of our new employees were hired and located outside the United States, up from about 30 percent in 1999.
During 2007, we continued to develop our workforce capabilities through our Invest in People strategies. These strategies are designed to:
- Create a world-class, high-performing global workforce.
- Develop and manage our employees to help us create the organizational capability to execute our strategies.
- Develop leaders who deliver superior results in a diverse, culturally complex global energy company.
In 2007, Chevron added new processes and programs to help continue to attract the best talent from around the world. For example, an improved applicant tracking system and sourcing process increased our ability to attract and hire candidates in key technical areas. We strengthened our image as an employer through expanded advertising and Web and print strategies. Our capacity to support internal and external hiring has increased. A centralized Global Upstream recruitment group strengthened our ability to attract new and experienced employees for all our upstream operations.
Chevron's University Partnership Program began establishing long-term, strategic relationships with 18 universities around the world that have a strong presence in the global energy industry. The partnerships strengthen the global reach of our recruitment activities and support education and research, which include new and existing degree programs and research initiatives on emerging technologies.
Supporting diversity is one of seven values in The Chevron Way. Having a workforce that reflects the composition of the marketplaces we serve and the communities where we operate is an important competitive advantage. Our leadership training programs explain the value diversity brings to our business success and provide guidance to help supervisors and managers learn to recognize and support the diversity of team members. As of 2007, we have approximately 13,200 employees involved in 10 officially recognized employee networks centered on issues such as gender, race, sexual orientation, age, disability and national origin.
We use a variety of metrics to help us understand our progress on our diversity goals. In 2007, for instance, 24.5 percent of senior executives were women and non-Caucasian men, surpassing our five-year goal of 23.5 percent set in 2002 – an accomplishment that reflects specific initiatives to achieve our objective. View a selection of our metrics.
We provide opportunities for skill development and motivating assignments at each stage of our employees' careers. Among our 2007 achievements:
- Horizons, an accelerated development program to build the technical competency of employees who have fewer than six years of industry experience, was expanded to support employees at all of our global upstream operations. Programs are offered in disciplines such as earth science, petroleum engineering, facilities engineering, and drilling and completions engineering. In addition, Chevron's information technology, supply chain management, and health, environmental and safety operations have implemented the program. Approximately 800 international and 1,000 U.S. employees were active in the program in 2007.
- The Engineering Development Program identifies and develops engineering graduates who have technical project management skills. During the two-year program, EDP recruits rotate through a variety of downstream assignments to develop the skills to support strategic business opportunities.
Our leaders must have the capabilities to excel in a complex, global business environment. In 2007, three new programs that build employee supervisory and management skills were introduced through our seven-stage leadership development program. This program identifies and develops our leaders around the world to operate at a consistently high level of performance and employee engagement. More than 5,165 employees took part in more than 230 leadership development sessions.
In March 2007, we surveyed our global employee population on employee engagement, retention and performance. We received responses from 68 percent of our workforce. The results indicated we were on par with or improving in key areas since our last census in 2004. Chevron employees are more highly engaged with the company and more likely to stay than in the past. Compared with 2004, however, they say they are having more difficulty managing workload and balancing work and personal needs.
We ranked favorably among our major competitors in indices measuring employee engagement, retention and performance according to an independent industry-benchmarking firm.