With the hopeless tone of the forum last week and the unknowns surrounding impending layoffs, morale amongst myself and my peers feel like it has hit rock bottom. How are things in other groups? Does everyone feel like this? How are you staying motivated to get through the day? I feel like I’m just going through the motions without any direction for my work.
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Shout out from Singapore too! Glad that we are all in together! Our LCM chose to “retire” too, probably asked to go.. then again.. indifferent for employees here
Oil and gas is going to be probably dead by 2040.
"And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him." Colossians 3:17
And seek the wisdom of Holy Spirit on whether to stay at EM or go.
Love you all!
@lzv+17DH7JmC Stop injecting it. it's illegal.
@yof+17DH7JmC - It’s just pure speculation on my end, because:
- Once you have the target on your back of Very Good/Good it will be there forever.
- There is a constant downward push, if most of NSI people are gone now then you can expect NI and some “Good” people to be hit by the upcoming layoffs. Then assuming we get to next July without further layoffs, 2020 Good will become NSI, 2020 very good will be NI, etc etc, rinse and repeat until the org is significantly smaller.
Again pure speculation from my end.
@lzv+17DH7JmC: This is much more than the usual boom and bust cycle. The stock has declined by 68% over the last 7 years. As another long timer, the business and stock performance has never been this bad for this long. The company will survive but we will be smaller and more humble in the future. 1986 was a blip compared to what has been happening for the last several years. Even Darren Woods recently acknowledged this. Hope for the best, but keep your feet on the ground.
What I see now are people who are sending emails and CCing as many people as possible to show that they’re working. I see people replying to everything even when their response adds no value. I also see people verbally committing to things and then failing to follow through, but hey, it’s only for appearances and that’s what matters in XOM...right?
There are many highly motivated who are going the extra mile and are high performers and will survive this downturn and they will thrive in the new environment. The boom-bust has happened before and will happen again. The comments on this board are not new. I heard them in prior downturns over the last 40 years. The unmotivated losers should leave/resign or be laid off. Time for the company to move on without the LOSERS.
You say you marked “Good” this year after stellar performance in the past, and are likely NI/NSI on the next round. Isn’t the idea that you can end up back at the top of ranking year in 2020/21 given there are no more caps on ranking moves up or down? Are you just assuming those not PIP’d/redundant in this coming round will become the next bottom with no other science behind it?
I was marked “very good” (also down from top) and now wondering if automatically will become NI/GOOD on the next round.
@ily+17DH7JmC no way the dividend is raised, right?
I wish everyone the best who is still employed and having to think of the what ifs. Most that do work for EM surely thought they would be there till retirement age possibly and go out on your own. And have that matching savings plan for their entire career.
I'm thankful I retired in Jan 2019 though it wasn't what I wanted. The presented PIP wasn't worth the additional stress.
Best wishes.
Unfortunately I see Exxonmobil as a revolving door I’m the future. This will cost so much more I’m the long run.
I’m very unmotivated by work. Just doing enough so my team doesn’t fail. Excited to leave XOM and its toxicity behind and start a new chapter in my life.
Have been feeling unmotivated for the past 5 years, watching the debt build up, stupid pledges to double earnings by 2025 being made from floaters, and realizing that the company I joined last century is gone and never coming back. Ready for that package
Add in the fact that the 401K is destroyed with XOM stock down to 32.. with Q3 earnings report this friday and DW's bragging rights that cutting staff allowed a dividend increase to 90 cents has my stomach sick to the core and not sleeping
Everyone that I encountered at work today seemed bummed out. Most were ready to leave the company and move on. Also there have been more people in the office this week than the past few weeks, trying to get face time, although we know the lists were already made.
Maybe this is just my perception, but seems like Woods and other senior managers that lead us into this sinkhole are not going to get laid off or suffer any consequences for their actions.
Every conceivable measure of performance points to Woods needing to be PIP’d. Change my mind!
spend 3/4 of your time on work (instead of 4/4 as in the past) and 1/4 polishing skills/resume, that helps to keep you more motivated (feels like you have more control)
We are all waiting to know the outcome. Never did I think I would be talking about selling my home and moving because I lost my job. I have to be flexible and realize I may not find something here. I am too young to retire and have another 10 years before I am eligible. No one wins. Those who lose their jobs and not the ones who remain and have to keep the business running.
All of us are waiting for the cards to fall. I'm only 40 and nowhere near retirement age but I'm hoping to get retrenched so that I can move on. It's not just folks in non GBCS, but GBC colleagues feel unmotivated too. The managers in GBCs can't plan for 2021, because they don't know how many positions will be made available to them yet.
GBC folks likely feel sorry for us, but really, who wants to be wanted by xom only because they are cheap? one day India will out-cheap everyone, but do Indian colleagues want to always earn the lowest? it's also plain as day that the GBCs are fighting among themselves for more positions, visibility, power. for years now XOM has set us up in tribalism, nevermind the I&D messages, it's how they act to incentivize behaviors that matter, not what they say. no one's going to win in this race to the bottom, and I don't envy the colleagues who get my job because they are paid $30k a year
I'm doing good work and trying my best because it makes me happy to focus and do something well. I also like the knowledgeable and decent global folks I work with, although many of us won't be around come 2021. I've no delusion that doing good work will lead to a good career, either in EM or elsewhere, as it's often just due to luck... maybe being pragmatic and less idealistic will make us all more accepting
Thank you for saying this. I am extremely unmotivated to do anything good or productive for a company that treats their employees like this, especially since all I can think about is what my plan forward is if I do get laid off. I’m stressed, upset, and thinking about work when I’m at home and I hate it. It’s oddly comforting knowing I’m not the only one feeling this way.
What happened to GROWING WITH PURPOSE? Will this save us?
Feeling unmotivated — seems like a first world problem. First think about following people who are in real suffering:
Our poor Upstream RTD employees are suffering the most as all our safety meetings, frivelous business class international travels and in-person management appeasement has come to halt. There is no other work that we know of and are able to do. Think about our misery.
The record breaking loss and debt burden will speak volumes for the monumental failure of Woods and his management committee.
Too bad with all the lies and greenwashing PR, the fact is that in the end only workers will pay the price for the incompetence and sycophancy of managers.
I can’t blame anyone for not giving a damn anymore. All trust and faith is lost.
Good luck to all of you trying to get of this sinking ship.
I don’t really see the point of going “above and beyond” for a company that is trying to meet quotas for layoffs/PIP without any promise of raises, promotions, or a 401k match for years. Just feels like you are setting yourself up for failure and being overworked for minimal benefit and without any real security that you won’t be laid off.
Aren’t we all? I was marked good after years of great performance, which is basically a slow, gruesome walk to NI/NSI next year. I know it’s silly to give up this early but I already have.
You can only control what you can control. The best way to help yourself is to deliver above and beyond on your responsibilities. For many, getting past the next month only gets them to next summer. Now more than ever ExxonMobil has truly become a "what have you done for me lately" company. With the change to the HR policies and practices EM is no longer the ride to retirement as one just starting needs to go 30+ years without a bad year... and CEO Woods said the oil industry would be dead by 2050 anyway.
So optimize your performance for your own self-preservation and sanity. Going through the motions ain't going to keep anyone around long.