workplace inclusion is a labor of love

Chevron Process Engineer Vanessa Fruge isn’t the type to hit the snooze button in the morning, nor is she the type to turn down a challenge. She was presented with such a dilemma in 2021, while seven-and-a-half months pregnant and working at our Pascagoula Refinery in Jackson County, Mississippi.

With a growing belly and concerns about performing physical inspections—which required crawling into tight spaces, climbing ladders and being exposed to loud noises—during her third trimester, Fruge turned to Chevron for a solution.

We delivered by equipping one of Fruge’s colleagues with a Microsoft HoloLens®, a mixed reality headset that allows the user to share what they’re seeing with colleagues working remotely. It gave Fruge—who was working on her tablet—a real-time view of operations and allowed her to collaborate with team members.

“The fact that Chevron would spend the money and the time to learn these new tools was just so amazing to me,” Fruge said.

“The work life balance working for this company is so amazing,” Fruge said. “They really promote the fact that if you're happy at home, then you can be happy at work. That's what I love most about working with a company that can accommodate me in all stages of my life.”

“The Pascagoula refinery has made a specific effort to be as accommodating as possible,” said Santiago Hernandez, process engineering team lead at Chevron’s Pascagoula plant. “We definitely have the One Team mindset here in Pascagoula.”

Microsoft Hololens is a trademark of the Microsoft group of companies.