Downtown: 575 Employees to be Laid Off at Hess Tower

In Houston, Chevron, which finalized its purchase of Hess Corp. on Friday, says 575 people will be laid off from their jobs at Hess Tower in downtown Houston.

The layoffs will create vacancy at the 844,763-SF Hess Tower at 1501 McKinney St., across from Discovery Green park.

When Chevron closed on the $53 billion Hess purchase last Friday, Chevron CEO Mike Wirth told CNBC that workforce reductions will be forthcoming as Hess and Chevron merge.

Filings at the Texas Workforce Commission say the layoffs impacting Hess Tower will begin on Sept. 26.

Hess had been the primary tenant at the building for years. The upcoming layoffs would create vacant space at the Hess Tower, which could be returned to the market as sublease inventory. Office vacancy remains a problem in the Houston area, although activity has improved somewhat in 2025.

The downtown office vacancy rate for Class A buildings is 33.4%, as stated by a second quarter report by Colliers.