I got laid off. It was hard being rejected especially when I looked at my talent less and unethical manager and incompetent coworkers. That still seems unfair. The severance is great!!!!!!!!!!!! Getting insurance through the marketplace was confusing. But thank you Obama, I'm happy to have inexpensive insurance. After that it has all been comfort and happiness. For all of you going through it now and in the future, take it from me, four months after the event you'll be happier than you ever were at Shell.
39 replies (most recent on top)
@7m9 "A person can be happy and be on this site.".
Nu-uh.
@7f6
Why do you think that the two things are exclusive and which two things do you mean? A person can be happy and be on this site. Or do you think that a person who is laid off cannot be on this site? Wouldn't it be that people who are not laid off or in the process of being laid off shouldn't be here?
Why are you letting the nonsense in your head come out? Imagine the people around you if when you see a person happy, claiming to be happy, or acting happy, then your thought is to lie and attack them. Do the rest of us a favor and keep that behaviour to yourself. Go to the time out spot!!!! And think about what you have done! Naughty naughty
@7f6 I'm really a Shell shill trying to convince su-kers to play the Shell game by house rules.
If life post-Shell is so great, why are you here?
Better to die on your feet than live with your elbows on the table. There's 20 bucks on the nightstand.
@6jr hold on a dang minute buckaroo, you're not the OP, I'm the OP. And I didn't type them posts. Yall are both liers!! What kind of a man steals another man's posts?
@72r Yeah and you took your hush money rather than standing up against evil. Way to go Smiley!
OP=Trump. Why would ANYONE argue that equivalence??
@72p
It would appear that you are a fugitive from being laid-off. You're probably awful at your job. And, probably everyone around you sees it and wonders why you haven't been fired already. It is probably that despite your intentions everyone around you assumes the wrong pronoun for you. Its just plain as day, we all see something about you that you are hiding from yourself.
Imagine that just like Trump I am taking advantage of the tax code as written. That's just the way it is. That's not freeloading... especially when I am paying for it.
@6jr hey freeloader, how does LAS look after your ACA subsidies dry up?
Btw nobody gives a sh-t about what OP authored. The hallelujah for freedom from responsibilities was pathetic.
@6am
Liar, you are not the OP. you might share the sentiment, but you are not the OP.
@5qp+1k34qjc4z is from the same person as OP.
@db+1k34qjc4z is from the same person as OP.
@17m+1k34qjc4z is from the same person as OP.
@1nw+1k34qjc4z is from the same person as OP.
And yes, this one is from OP too.
Maybe I tracked and posted in this too much, but I felt it so I kept posting to it.
In summary. I worked hard for Shell. I saved, I invested. I had a lot of good years, then 2-3 awful years at the end due to a political empire building supervisor who made stuff up and didn't accomplish anything. He managed to DEI promote a woman to replace me. Hr didn't do anything about how he broke company policies. My coworkers were also accomplishing nothing.
I'm happier not working in that environment. It was a learning curve, but after getting insurance and realizing I was able to be independent in every way. I'm so much happier. There isn't a message, there isn't subterfuge there are no silent dog whistles. The dominoes fell and I was able be happy at the end.
I am OP on this string. This @5qp is not from me.
Oh, wow! @5nn+1k34qjc4z @4b7+1k34qjc4z @4as+1k34qjc4z It isn't that deep. This is actually face value. There is no subterfuge. I really bet that I do not conform to any of the stereo types that you are thinking of. I believe I was a victim of DEI. Yes, I really do believe I was fired to place a woman or someone who identifies as a woman in place of me. My talentless and unethical boss tried to justify his own actions to meet a quota. Now, I am happy to be away from that mess.
Shell has great insurance! Family coverage for the highest tier was about $500/month while employed. And it was that cheap for 4 months after severance. ...that's the package. After that regular COBRA prices were above $2500/month. In the market place, other gold level insurance costs about that too, but with the Affordable Care Act, the price is reduced to ~$980/month for a family. throwing out 980/month is easier than throwing 2500/month.
While I was at Shell, I saved and saved and invested. Shell paid me well. My first 14-years at Shell were great. The last 2 were awful. With the severance and the savings, I don't have to work. I wouldn't agree that I am getting a hand out... I'm still paying and paying more than a lot are. If you've tried getting insurance privately, then you know it is confusing to do that. Do I thank Obama... yes. Do I thank good things that are either red or blue... yes
Do I pay WAY more in taxes , yes. I've put in way more than I have ever or will ever take out. I'm a gen-X not a Boomer. X-ers have been the payers for the Boomer mess.
Tell me more about your great and affordable insurance plan.
Okay I get the coded language here. You love getting a handout not to work, you get no support or medical from a spouse or parent, and you unnecessarily praise Obama. The stereotype if obvious but are you for real or just a dog-whistlin'-rabid-red? My bet is your a shill trying to wave a carrot in front of certain demographics as Shell tries to unwind its bad DEI hires, now that the legal heat is really on.
So your severance didn't include your medical? And marketplace premiums are better than the risk pool at Shell? Methinks you full o' sh-t.
Hey everybody! Sign that release! Take that payoff! Especially if you have dependents and life goals! You will really be much happier looking for another job, competing against all those losers at COP and CVX for the fake jobs on LinkedIn! It's not true what they say, not true that it's easier to find a job if you already have a job,LIES, LIES, LIES! I LOVE SPENDING MY DAYS AND NIGHTS STARING AT TIKTOK!
I’ve learned that Shell doesn’t reward technical expertise. I was lucky that another O&G operator reached and I was able to land a promotion with the new company vs Shell. It is nice to feel valued for being a technical expert
@17m
The thing is that supervisors are human too. They may have come to the situation where they have very little choice but to fire someone and you were the unlucky person who got picked (maybe by your boss' boss?). But because they're human they don't want to be so cold so they find ways in their mind to justify firing you. Its kind of a sickness, seeking to justify some action that is more or less random. That's when they act awfully, ask for more & more stuff hoping to catch you failing, or even just disagreeing with you... well anything to justify the behavior they are about to perpetrate. Their egos cannot handle that they are doing something capricious that throws your life into a spin so they compound it by villainizing the victim. That's human nature and it is unfair when it happens. Its worse when other teammates pile on to make sure it isn't them. It is predictable.
@1mr
Nah dude or dudet as OP, I wouldn't come back. After more than two decades plus the severance, and I've saved and kept enough to never have to work again. The regret is that I tried to stay when I should have raised both fingers and yelled FiretrUCK you ( read just the capital letters hopefully the auto editor doesn't sanitize this). A funny thing happens when you have saved enough $$, you just don't need to put up with annoyance and you can say FiretrUCK you and walk away without a care. The regret may be that you were nervous to decide if you have FiretrUCK you money. But if you are close ,remember you can get another job.
Live life enjoy and get a second career to volunteer or do something good for the world.
You would come back if Shell offered.
@1dh no, you are just a cell in an excel file and if there have to be reductions in your department or location, its over.
Regardless if you run big programs, have gotten each year psp shares and take accountability and deliver.
Happened to me. The person who did that had to reapply herself and found another role. Now the people left behind need to deal with it.
It is a circus of useless leaders nowadays, as long as the money keeps flowing they will leech.
@17m
"I hear all the time that person X was better than person Y but X got laid off. It's unfair."
It's often true to my eyes, but you're a lot more vulnerable to a VP's whims if you're in the bottom half of performance and delivery.
@149
Hmmm.. Does every one know at least one supervisor who is inept, unqualified or corrupt?
Does everyone know coworkers who are less qualified, a kissup or lazy?
Can you identify a person that was laid off that was over-looked talent, more qualified than one or two peers in their group who didn't get laidoff, or was the social pariah before getting fired?
I think that we all agree that this is not always the case; but, I bet if you know a large group of people you know people like this. And suspend disbelief but those same people persecuting can interact differently with others. Imagine that a person could be nice to you and an a$$hole to someone else? Do you have people who you dislike that are liked by others? There are sometimes people who don't socially fit in a group and are mistreated even if is as shallow as the person is fat, short, ugly, or has quirky mannerisms.
I also bet that someone who was really well rated for a decade and several supervisors can come to a point where a new supervisor trashes their high flyer status or even fires them despite the fact that they're doing their job as well as ever. It happens.
Its probably not 100% of the time but often enough that we'd be able to identify this in people who are being laid off with more than 15 years experience.
@14g
Very true. The journey from CART to CAR to AR to R is staggering. I am done with C graders running the show
To OP - best of luck mate. Hope all of us can avail the package.
@149 your comment about the wrong assignment at the wrong time I think is one of the biggest issues with Shell. In order to get promoted you have to leave your discipline and maybe line of business to do something completely different, which you may not be great at, but it is what’s needed to get promoted. Shell does not really value technical expertise like other companies do.
Another perspective:
not every supervisor is inept, unqualified or corrupt;
not every co-worker is less qualified, a kissup or lazy;
Not every person that’s laid off is over-looked talent, more qualified than all peers or the object of persecution.
Sometimes the person laid off is in the wrong assignment at the wrong time, decided he/she doesn’t need to fit in or is just plain not up to the task.
I'm glad for OP. Even if they writing just to say that they feel better.
@wj+1k34qjc4z
Yea, bills, but no ba--s. You deserve what you get.
@OP This posts reads a little (or a lot) like therapy, Did your psychiatrist suggest it ?
I was involuntarily severed yet I had more bottom line savings than anyone in my group. My talentless manager JG2 was always envious of my accomplishments and JG4 salary that wasn't far below his. However, unlike him, I actually earned my salary.
I got a higher paying job one day after leaving Shell! Shell, thanks for the 6-figure severance package, which is in my bank account!!!!
Yep. I am sheep. Sheep with bills to pay.
You are being managed. You are being lied to. You are sheeple who will take your pittance to assuage their consciences and satisfy the lawyers at their insurance company. Quietly await your sla-ghter. Hear the soothing tones of those in front of you, baaas, baaa, obeeey, obey. Your company is EVIL.
Post-Shell, I feel like a changed Ebenezer after being visited by the 3 ghosts. I’m rid of that ponderous chain I labored on, forging it link by link every day I clocked in.
I saw a social media post from a colleague who took the package months ago. This guy looks so happy and I am happy for him.
I've been out a little more than a year. I'm also enjoying life after shell (LAS), and transitioned to retired/ volunteering. My regret is that it wasn't sooner and that I put any effort into trying to stay a little longer. LAS is great. Thank you severance.
There's probably a lot more people happier even if they are working somewhere else and even for less money.
Here’s another shout out to LAS (Life after Shell.) Wouldn’t be a Shell post without a few TLA’s (three letter acronyms)!!! Been living my best life for 8 months now, retired at 40 and doing what I want, when I want. For those of you hesitating to take the package, STOP. Life is truly better once you’ve stopped with the Koop-Aid!
But you're going to miss your chance to make your voice heard during the SPS!
/sarc
Have a nice time off!
Hey if this is P, good to hear you are doing well. C and L still at Shell wish you all the best. Keep on truckin'
- P
The glide path provided by a generous separation package and the relief of being out of a situation you didn’t like is really satisfying, especially if you’re transitioning to full retirement status.
However, if there’s still the need for a paycheck and portfolio growth, the afterglow will be shortly overtaken by the stark reality - “I need a job”.
Good luck to all heading out the revolving door at Pecten Central. The interview/“dating scene” is still as unappealing as ever.