The process-plant engineering and construction (E&C) business currently is undergoing a significant slowdown in many parts of the world. For instance, many major E&C firms in the Houston area have laid off half or more of their staffs. In Houston alone, at least several thousand engineers, designers, and support personnel have lost their jobs or are billing fewer work hours. Bear in mind that these recent cuts have gone into the bone, The highly competitive nature of the process-plant E&C business in the past decade had already eliminated the fat before the current slowdown began.