One day after concluding its purchase of Sonat Inc., El PasoEnergy Corp. completed its after-merger corporate restructuring.Through normal attrition, early retirement and 607 layoffs, thework force has been pared down from 5,500 to 4,575, the companysaid Tuesday. The action is part of a company-wide plan toimplement the optimal corporate organization for the future, ElPaso said, and the company expects to save in excess of $100million in the first full year after the merger due to thesemeasures.

Staff reductions took place in all of the company’s locationsincluding Houston, El Paso, and Tyler, TX, as well as Birmingham,Alabama, and Oklahoma City, OK. The reductions occurred across allbusiness units and at all levels of the company. Notifications oflayoffs have already gone out. No other cuts of this magnitude arescheduled.

Of the terminated employees, 246 will remain with the companyuntil their current assignments are completed — some for severalweeks — but none later than June of next year. One of the biggestnames included on the list of people leaving El Paso is RichardOwen Baish, president of El Paso Natural Gas. Baish, who had beenwith El Paso Natural for 27 years, announced he was retiring lastMonday. El Paso said Patricia Shelton, who is currently thecompany’s vice president, finance, will take over Baish’s positionwhen he leaves Dec. 31. Shelton has been with El Paso for 19 yearsin various positions.

Employees who were not retained are eligible to receive fullseverance benefits including a cash payment based on years ofservice. El Paso is also providing outplacement assistanceincluding resume preparation, career counseling, secretarialsupport, and access to job databases.

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