All of a sudden there is a flurry of LI #Exxodus posts from our South American colleagues. What's happening in our SA offices? Are any organizations and positions within being sold or sent to MSPs or this is simply people being smarter and jumping the ship before a wreck?
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Pay sucks. Forcing people to return to the office. Less people being forced to do more work since the MSPs aren't delivering - shocking, I know...
I have worked with many from SA GBC's and many of them want to travel a lot, many dream to become expats. They always travel on business and who does not want these. Travel opportunities have dramatically slowed down and guess what happens next. This is also true to colleagues in Asia.
This may be difficult for Americans to understand but there are about 8 different dollar conversion rates in argentina. Exxon pays people at the official dollar rate yet converts dollars from the US to argentina at a much higher rate. So they are basically saving 50% on the salary of these people. Yet when the locals ask for better dollar conversion rates on the salaries, exxon says it only pays in the official rate.... Args are cheap and they get even cheaper as the local gov constantly gets worse over time.
@ 1hke+1fOoM5XK
I had never thought about that. So we pay in hyperinflating currency, refusing to make adjustments more than maybe once a year, when we could pay in dollars and make it a non-issue. I’m sure there’s probably some accounting/conversion issues that might cost a few percent, but it beats the attrition we’re seeing. Man we are jerks.
In BA, other multinational companies pay in constant dollars, alleviating the inflation issues. XOM hasn't done that, and hasn't adjusted pay for inflation, so people leave to catch up instead of falling farther behind. Many of them would stay if they were paid a dollar amount.
They might be south americans but they are not stupid. They know Exxon is a dead company. So, they use it until they can find something better. And they get to keep the brand name ExxonMobil on their resumes. I think it is a smart move.
@1bzy - well that certainly explains the extremely poor service from the Benefits Center. Submit a simple question, and then wait 6 weeks for a response that completely ignores the question.
Gbc is only forcing return to office for the first time next week. A great percentage of the new hires in gbc have never set foot in an xom office despite being employed in their home office for 2 years. The general work culture (laziness) of an argentine employee leads them to work there while it's convenient (where they can slack off and drink mate all day in the home) and draw a paycheck but now that they have to actually show up they're going to start looking for somewhere with local benefits like increased frequency of raises or home officing on an extended basis. As others have said here below, advancement for these folks is severely limited and when you have inflation over 50% a year you will fall behind quickly working for a US company that is only in the country for cheap labor. Additionally, ExxonMobil is only a resume builder name that can be a stepping stone to landing a job that will actually take them out of the country.
I don't blame them. That is a job that goes nowhere fast.
So folks at BTC don't settle in your seats too comfortably for long with Exxon Mobil. This is a norm at how Exxon Mobil moves their business centers from country to country purely based on cost. Started from Canada, Europe, KL, Brazil, Argentina, and now BTC India. What's happened with Exxon Mobil footprint in each of those countries? You know. And now MSPs and consultants seems to be a strategy. It is just a matter of time before BTC becomes higher cost than it is today and Exxon will then go to China.
So for BTC folks, don't drink koolaid served by your Exxonised local managment (including expats like Upstream culture manager who now seems to have become active again on LI). decide your own fate and time when you should prep to leave Exxon.
Does someone from Curitiba or BA GBCs want to share how things locally are there for employees there?
No wonder some of the IT Executives on LI seem to be on a mission painting a wonderful picture to attract candidates to join Exxon. They have drained knowledge and continue to bleed talent. Mo--ns!
BKs #hotshot comment was insensitive and plain insulting to employees. And he openly made the comment that rightfully rubbed people wrong way. Why hasn't BK been reprimanded for his irresponsible comment and behavior made in an open forum? You may wonder. Would his boss use this behavior of his to PiP him? You know the answer, it is No. As we know all sins made by mgmt. are forgiven. If a regular employee had made such a comment it would have def. been used against him justifying his PIP, but not mgmt.
BK and mgmt. also knows that a few intelligent and those with technical and other transferable skills will leave and will be a regretted attrition, however BK and mgmt. also knows that they will still have a lot of those without transferable skills who would willingly continue to be their slaves for a paycheck and the famous PENSION! And so they will continue to insult employees because they know they have enough to keep slavery going.
The best answer for people like BK is to upskill yourself on XOM time and then leave them high and dry, like the mgmt. loves to do with people. If employees want to try out, try applying for a job outside Exxon and you will find Exxon and Exxon experience is generally no longer respected anymore, as it once used to. Don't believe me? Try it out yourself, apply for a few jobs and see yourself.
EMIT here, lots of SA people are simply landing better jobs. The GBCs pay poorly and have limited advancement, especially for technical people. The famous “hotshot” reference has applied to several South Americans I personally know. Very intelligent and talented employees that were getting the shaft from lack of advancement.