Curious if cost of living adjustment was eliminated for everyone or just those of us unlucky enough to have been sent to Midland. Elimination of the cost of living adjustment pluc savings plan match has me making nearly 1/3 less than I was told I'd be paid. Not looking like it will come back anytime soon either. As a result I'm applying for new jobs as are others I know. Bad situation for the company to move us out here and then cut the money we were planning to use to pay our mortgage (houses are much more expensive than Houston). Really not a good thing the company has done to single us out for cuts as I understand people in Houston didn't get their salaries cut.
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They are trying to drive voluntary headcount reductions in Midland by starving people out and then making people in Houston choose if they want to risk taking an assignment in Midland knowing they could be immediately PIPd upon arrival by the unfriendly locals who see new arrivals as outsiders and a threat.
@5qsu+18zFLlmU What are you talking about? Offices in Midland are nowhere near capacity with all of the PIPs and layoffs. In fact the downtown lease isn’t going to be renewed because we have more than enough room for the people to move into HH. Of course they are all complaining because they don’t want to lose their massive 1980’s style private offices and move to HH. As far as IT there are very few of them at HH and if you’ve ever dealt with the Houston IT you’d be glad to have onsite support.
Disagree. Many knowledgeable folks are in Spring supporting Permian/ Delaware. The folks that need to visit the field should be in Midland or Carlsbad. With our expensive EMIT group, many can WFH or have telecommunications with the boots in Midland. Leave them in Houston. We’ve already been forced into cubicles on Holiday Road and in Temps in Carlsbad. Don’t need more who work 40 hours a week filling a hole out here.
@4cbi+18zFLlmU Is obviously trolling. Obviously the company is sending some of the best to Midland as it is one of the few places where money is still being spent. Have fun revising GPs and doing GI work @4cbi+18zFLlmU
Everyone who was sent to Midland from UIS and RTD should be laid off as soon as practically possible. No need for the Company to waste money on brining these losers back to Spring.
What you describe would be fine since most of us were told it would be a two year assignment in Midland. I’m kind of doubting that now though.
Strange way to treat people who were willing to move to a hard to staff location. Sure anyone will move there (maybe) in the current environment but you are k–ling the goose that laid the golden egg by punishing those who were willing to move there prior to the downturn.
If it was a temporary incentive why was it communicated as a COLA? I have the email stating it was a COLA. Also people who moved after me were sure surprised when it was stopped. No mention by S&D when selling the assignment to them that it could be stopped at any minute. Talk was use it to pay your more expensive mortgage and send your kids to private school because Midland schools are underperforming.
Company domestic relocation is notoriously bad compared to international expat relocation. You will lose going to higher cost locations. Expat remuneration has always been very generous, even though scaled back a bit last few years. The deal is generous expat pay and dont whine about the trials and tribulations associated with expat life. If expat pay goes any lower its not worth the hassles.
Difference is that prior to pandemic benchmarking said expats were overpaid but in Midland EM was on the low end of the pay scale compared to other operators there.
COLA adjustments for expats were based on benchmarking. Midland cut was taken with no benchmarking basis ias a knee jerk reaction to COCID after management had promised it would remain in place until the end of 2020 before being evaluated again.
Expat uplifts were reduced a year before COVID and phased over several months. were they reduced again? If not I’d say they haven’t been impacted like Midland.
Midland and Carlsbad COLA was not tax equalized.
Só how does it work when move to SYU? Is there a separate CA payscake? If not why would anyone move to CA from Houston?
Yours wasn't completely a cost of living adjustment; there is a reason those who relocate from Houston to California get less than you do in the long run, as after year 3 there is 0 COLA adjustment) and it wasn't tax equalized like yours was.
Midland had a temporary hard-ship allowance factored in that was meant to incentivize people to move - it wasn't intended to be permanent.
Many expats got their temporary allowances taken away before the pandemic based on the Company's analysis of how competitive they were.
So no, you were not the only impacted by your perceived COLA or additional benefits being taken away.
So I'm not hearing anyone say their cost of living adjustment was eliminated. Thanks for screwing us in Midland and New Mexico!
Health insurance is aweful. In additon to paying so much more because the HMO option isn't available. Company will sell you on some lies that they have made up for it by improving the health coverage but what they won't tell you is they don't offer the lower cost HMO option so you're out of luck on having affordable options if you have kids. Then be prepared to constantly have to go back and forth between the insurance and doctors because insurance wants to pay them less and doctors say they are entitled to more. Such a pain and hate to think of how much money I am losing every month I stay in Midland.
An offer accepted in Midland may extend a career, slightly. An offer to Carlsbad, well hopefully you’re retirement eligible, because you’ll have to pay NM State income tax and there’s no H‑E‑B. Don’t buy in either.
After reading this I'm logging into CareerConnect now and adding Midland to the places I don't want to be transferred to.
To add insult to injury the HMO is not available in Midland so families have to pay THOUSANDS more for medical care in Midland. They will give you some supposed explanation that they've made it all better but when the bills start rolling in you will see it is not the same as being in Houston. You will pay much, MUCH more for healtcare while living in Midland and only having out of network insurance. If you are offered a job in Midland do everything you can to avoid being transferrred. You will lose tens of thousands of dollars during the assignment each year compared to living in Houston. This s—s.
My COLA is simply being sent a check in January (first day was in January at new location)....50% of the total on day 1, 25% on day 365, and 25% on day 730. I am approaching the final 25%....are you saying I might not get the final 25% based on midland example? That would be a bit of a slap in the face.....
@OP COLA eliminated?? I've been on every assignment type in the Company and I've never heard of that. That is horrendous. I hope you still get house cost protection when you return to Houston.
So disgusting to see the “be glad you have a job” line being used as a justification for treating employees poorly.
If the housing market really is in freeway that just makes it worse for people who bought a house when they moved out there. Not like mid career people with families would want to live in an apartment for a multiple year assignment. In Texas you buy your way into the best school district you can or pay for private school. I’ve heard Midland schools are NSI compared to Houston.
There we’re several people in Midland who were laid off or PIPd only a couple months after being moved to Midland and buying a house. Now they have to sell house without any company help at a loss to move to a new city with jobs. Couldn’t the company have not moved them if they were going to PIP them in the next cycle? There should be a rule not to PIP people immediately after relocating them. Why pay to relocate someone including all the home sale assistance and then PIP them leaving them in a bad situation like this? Bad for company and bad for the person. Don’t transfer people if they are “low performers” or don’t slow them to be PIPd immediately after moving.
Good luck getting anyone to move to a hard to staff location again in the future.
There's an old saying in Tennessee — I know it's in Texas, probably in Tennessee — that says, fool me once, shame on — shame on you. Fool me — you can't get fooled again.
George W. Bush
At my stage in life I am not living in a c-appy rental with roommates. I bought when I moved as is the norm. The bank doesn’t give money back and home prices aren’t moving much anyways. Rent is down true because of overbuilding of rentals but not home prices. Yes home prices are much higher than Houston. That’s why they were offering a COLA to begin with genius. No one who works in Midland is going to move to a surrounding smaller town to save on mortgage. Schools are bad enough in Midland and even worse in smaller towns.
@sen+18zFLlmU is just stirring the pot. Total BS that raises and bonuses are being handed out. No one at EM will see raises for years.
@pyd+18zFLlmU I am already sitting in severa job offers. Trying to decide which is best next move.
OP, If you have a valuable and marketable skill then you should have no issues finding a new job. If however you perform a job that any high school drop out can do then you should consider yourself lucky to even be employed. Reality and the job market will set you straight.
Alot of us got our raises and bonuses after the low performers where cut a few weeks ago. Now that alot of the fat is gone there is plenty of money to reward the performers. If you didnt get your raise then your consolation prize is at least you still have a job. Good luck finding another job! Pretty sure you won't find anything.
midland rent is down 35% yoy, tons of houses on the market with housing market in freefall out there, in what way are "houses much more expensive than Houston". Also I'm referring to Houston, and not factoring in the costs of suburbs or else Midland folks need to include housing in crane, big spring, pecos, etc.
@ttf+18zFLlmU I know of a couple of people who managed to get the assignment as a TDA somehow. I wasn't familiar enough with the policies to inquire when they relocated me from Houston.
Was there any reduction to the people on TDA? Temporary domestic assignment is usually treated different than a relocation.