All of you who keep complaining (I'd use the B-word but I don't want this post to disappear) about Exxon, do you want to trade? I'd be more than happy and go back to work for this "horrible, horrible" company and you can take my severance package and walk away. And I'll ask you in a month how do you feel about that decision when you've sent out dozens of resumes but still failed to secure even one interview.
22 replies (most recent on top)
I really feel for those that are losing their jobs.
I feel fortunate that I survived down sizing, outsourcing, the merge, then after 40.5 years of service, I'm told I'm ranked at the bottom with NO warning. This was in 2018.
I told the HR rep who had 1 years service. Obviously I've been an asset here or I wouldn't have worked many positions, all over Houston for 40.5 years.
Glad I put them through drafting that PIP to only then say, I'm retiring.
I wish everyone the best.
@1dwl+17s3xhVH I thank God I was pip'd I got paid by xom while working at another company that I love. The folks and the industry fit my personality and is growing. I wish you the best manager and hope you find peace. Those under you look for good leadership and many of my former colleagues are scared.
@1dwl+17s3xhVH You are a fool if you believe that only the PIPd are posting on this board. You must be one of those clueless managers who have no idea how bad the morale is in this company. Don't you think the employees who remain know how unethically the company has treated their coworkers who were layed off through false PIP / PIL.
If I know someone has mistreated another human being, I would never trust them to treat me fairly either. That's why so many employees are deeply disappointed at what has happened at EM. They see what the company has become, and they mourn the passing of what was once a great company.
@1dwl+17s3xhVH - If i were you, I wouldn’t brag about being an XOM manager. You are the brown-nosing spineless back-stabbing yes-men that have run this company into the ground.
Why do you think we would need a recommendation from you? Reality check - you are a worthless cog in the failed XOM machinery. Stop wasting our time here and get back to creating your PowerPoint deck.
Whatchu mean, you people!?
After reading the whining and complaining, it confirms that we PIP’d the right people, though we aren’t done yet.
All you PIP’d former employees, please go to our competitors, I promise I will give you a glowing recommendation. I want you to work for the competition.
@bmt+17s3xhVH I'm not lying either about 5 offers, 3 were in Midwest, 1 in Houston, 1 in SE US. All paid between 12 to 20% less than what I'm making now but it's ok I'll make that up quickly. My experience is less than 10 years too. So far the company I joined is 180 in terms of culture.
This site does feel like group therapy sometimes.
It is hard to be objective when you need food on the table.
That's an understood.
Most people I've seen on board are same boat or empathetic to that.
On the other hand, nice to have a place to spit out feelings of oppression.
My wife and kids don't want to hear it.
So I come here, put on the headphones, and...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=p5ikkya2UPg
I stopped expecting fairness from XOM years ago. Just want my severance package so I can retire.
Whether anyone has worked at EM for 5 years or 35 years, most of us simply want our contributions and abilities to be ranked fairly, and not manipulated in any way to achieve a workforce reduction target, to force early retirements by reducing rankings with age, etc. Just eliminate all of the management overlays that place external factors on the ranking system. Group us in buckets of similar peers and rank what we have contributed in the past year. No baggage from prior years, no uplifts for future potential, etc. Just the facts which can be objectively be demonstrated to an unbiased group of rankers. If any of us are truly on the bottom of the list, then it makes sense for us to be cut first. But don't manipulate the list to achieve a predetermined or desired outcome. That's all most of us ask. Anything less promotes distrust, failure to share expertise, and a host of other behaviors that cause everyone to lose.
No way am I working 30+ years. 20 years then kicking back and enjoying life. #fire
@OP - I lost my job after 32 years of good performance reviews and outstanding feedback from knowledgeable others (especially since 2016, when I've had no negative feedback at all). I remained technical for all my career, except for one stint as a Team Lead (pre-merger), after which it was agreed with my then boss that I didn't enjoy the position (didn't feel like I was doing any real work) and I was better at problem solving than managing a group. So I understand how you feel.
However, I am sure that (like me) you have seen how the company has changed over the last 10-15 years. I came from the Exxon side and even Exxon was never like this - so it's how the management culture has evolved ("woke") and nothing to do with undue influence from Exxon or Mobil people. Therefore, people like you and I had plenty of opportunity to bail out, if we didn't like the way things were heading ... but we didn't. Like most people in our situation, we felt that we had too much invested in the company and that we wouldn't be able to walk into another job paying the same (good) salary and benefits. Possibly our family situations prevented us from risking a career move to another company and location.
The reason I say this is because I bear no ill-will to those-still-employed coming onto these boards and complaining about the company's situation. Before this fake NSI/PIP exercise, probably we all felt the same way about the ranking process, high level decisions and investments, the undue importance given to ERG participation versus doing your actual work, and how sycophants and high potentials advance through the ranks ahead of people who really deserve promotion.
I never, ever thought I would end up in the bottom 10% - I had too much valuable experience, helped too many people and just worked too damn hard (evenings, weekends, vacation days - even through a Thanksgiving) for that to happen. But it did, because I believed it when I was told that my opinion was important and then found out that it wasn't wanted because it ran contrary to what my last 3 bosses wanted. I'm sure each of them wanted to drop my ranking, but they couldn't - I was too valuable and performed too well. The ranking cycle completed in 2020 - well, that was a different story ... all bets were off.
Don't you think that this has been a real eye-opener for those who survived this round of cuts ? Did YOU ever think that the company would layoff so many people in one go, but manipulate the ranking system so corruptly to disguise it as "performance issues" (because I certainly didn't !) ? Don't you think that current employees are entitled to comment on this board, about how cr@ppy the company and how toxic the culture has become ? They can't exactly go on Yammer and say this stuff. Many of them will be in shock and disbelief, just like you and me; and many of them will be worried that they might be next. So let them vent. If you or I had survived the July cuts, we would be doing exactly the same thing.
In the current environment every company is on its backside bar a few. It’s all very well moaning about the companies past decades performance, but everyone had a choice to leave if they didn’t like it? Nobody did, because of their large financial package, which allowed for a nice lifestyle and they were also pampered with all kinds of perks. If everyone was as good at their job as you read about on here, nobody would be in this situation. The chances are that some people are going to get severance packages worth more than what most people get paid in 3years of work. Count yourself lucky. The company has to answer to the share holders and keep them happy like every other multi national. If that means people lose their jobs, unfortunately so be it. Oil and Gas is a cutthroat industry and you would be naive to think they owe you anything. You don’t think you were able to grow to the largest company in the world by market capital from being nice to people and countries? They have been ruthless from day one and will need to be to stay in the game.
I certainly don’t plan on still working in the corporate world at age 58. Life is too short to be working at a company that long.
I got PIPed after 24 years of success and good reviews. I was 58, got booted out in July. All my life I remained technical, always said no to any management jobs in ExxonMobil. The reward - I had 3 job offers within 1 week of leaving, got a better job, joined 2 weeks after leaving ExxonMobil, so got 2.5 months double pay and no more toxic culture. If you have technical skills you can leave ExxonMobil today. There is work out there. If you are a manager then you must brown nose and be a yes man, otherwise if you are out, the only jobs available for you will be fast food and janitorial, and SLSs/ managers - you will be too underqualified for those. I wouldn't want to eat a Mc Double Bacon Cheesburger flipped by you as you may been too busy counting your LPOs and QIs and NLIs and not paid attention to my burger.
You IT people are really pathetic, clear off and go get more money , we don’t care
I've been with Exxon for 22 years in IT. It's just a paycheck like any other company. Exxon or any other job/company doesn't define who I am. Trust me, I could get a job tomorrow somewhere else no problem and even make more money. I have companies contacting me every week for my skills. I have no fear leaving Exxon whether on my own or they fake PIP me. There are many good companies and jobs out there.
OP - just because XOM gives a paycheck in return for my services, doesn’t change the fact that they have fostered a toxic culture. Employees have a right to voice their opinion and hopefully drive change in the company culture.
I left voluntarily had 5 job offers and could of got more, I am on lunch break now at my new job, so yea I'm happy I left. I come back here to encourage others to do the same and not have fear.
Many people here will be losing their jobs, or have already lost them, and not by their choice. I think the majority are just waiting for the axe to fall. This IS a layoff board.
@OP+17s3xhVH if you don’t like what people post on a lay-off board then don’t stalk the lay-off boards 🙄