Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

Controllers is a make-work project and thinking, let alone critical thinking, is not required.

@1gng+19TXUPVF

Totally me too. I spend more time trying to make the ppt to make it look pretty like supervisors want and then have to do many revisions.

I spent a little over 2 years at XOM in a procurement role that was absolutely bogged down in red tape. In the two years I managed agreements I think I made about 20-30 contractual amendments and ran two bid events that each spanned for nearly a year. The amount of internal reviews, stakeholder meetings, PPTs, and control points that I had to go through was pure insanity for what was really a pretty small amount of work.

For reference, I managed a similar suite of contracts at a smaller competitor before going to Exxon and I probably ran 30 bid events and made well over 100 contract amendments in a two year time frame. Not to mention I was able to bring substantial savings to the bottom line by being able to respond quickly and efficiently to market dynamics. These are just rough metrics, but I think you would find similar anecdotes across the experienced hire spectrum.

In the end though, I was just as busy working at XOM, but I was not busy doing the right things that make a difference to earnings and profitability.

PPT because your boss just sits there and watch you do all the work while they take the credit.

@dye+19TXUPVF

Look up the Pareto distribution. Yes, 80% of the work is being done by 20% of the workers.

Lol I remember I spent 20+ hours researching and fine tuning a PPT to present to my bosses boss because my manager kept picking at little details. Well my boss got cold feet and ended up canceling the presentation. That’s when I knew I’m wasting my time here.

@dye+19TXUPVF

There are 2 separate themes here. Most employees work hard and can complete a large volume of tasks that are within their control.

I think what some are referring to is the bureaucratic decision making process and slow pace of making changes/improvements in our company. In many other companies, decisions are delegated lower in the organization and the employee can identify and implement decisions much more quickly.

At ExxonMobil, authority is very centralized and things must be reviewed at a higher level of management. This results in endless lower level reviews with managers worried about taking things upline. Months of PowerPoints later, the recommendation is watered down beyond recognition or the opportunity to make the change is lost altogether.

For many, this work culture becomes ingrained over time whether they are aware of it or not. You shouldn’t need a 15 page PowerPoint package for many of the things we do.

Outsiders often look at us as overly cautious perfectionists who value form over substance. Despite internal happy talk not backed up by example, no one outside the organization uses words like nimble or practical when speaking of us.

I retired from XOM in a pretty cushy fob and have continue working for years in midstream. I attribute my longevity to not being a pure bread XOM. I agree with many of the comments about diversity of experience is tuned for the XOM world. Exxon trains you to be an excellent Exxon employee and nothing else. If you are a pure bread XOM employee, it's going to be hard getting another job, only because you only know the Exxon way. You are very adept at managing process, not accomplishing productive work. There is a difference between productive work and power point engineering ..if you are an engineer. Good luck.

@sgs+19TXUPVF

100% THIS! Especially the fear of accountability that makes the number of approvals and independent reviews shoot through the roof, making something take exponentially longer to do! The most insane part is no one with any power to change things and increase efficiency knows this but will not dare change it because.....fear of accountability.

I am suprised to read these comments. My experience is more work than you can possibly complete in 5 days a week. This includes extended hitches in the field and neverending safety initiatives and plan changes.

Is 80% of the work being done by 20% of the workforce? I felt bad for those laid off but after hearing this maybe some of those folks needed to go.

I’m in controllers, and I think the “snails pace work” depends on the role you’re in. I’ve had one role where I wouldn’t have been able to fill my workday with things to do no matter how hard I’ve tried. And I’ve had another role involving in depth analysis that requires a lot of background knowledge about how Exxon’s accounting worked and what was driving certain issues and I worked as many or more hours as those in public accounting.
That being said, a lot of jobs in controllers that are analyst level, but are being done by older employees, seem to be snails pace jobs. I’m not sure of if I was a company that I’d want to hire an older analyst from Exxon that’s been doing the same routine work for the last 5 years.

The comment resonates with our bureaucracy, which is legendary. Decision making is very slow and centralized and we are forced to overwork everything. Fear of accountability reigns supreme, especially in management. At some point, paralysis by analysis infects us all .

I think the snails pace applies everywhere even outside of controllers. How many times have you spent more time with bureaucracy and approvals rather than just getting stuff done? How many times have you had to mess with old, ugly mid 2000s looking apps from other old companies like SAP.

As an example from someone in EMIT, I’ve had to do a lot of self learning because our tech ecosystem is so dated. I can pass the hiring bar at a non-tech company, but have been grilled in my interviews at the newer, innovative companies.

OP here

@kuy+19TXUPVF 100% agree with everything you have said and I definitely work on skills outside of work.

@kuy+19TXUPVF I figured this wouldn't apply to you all so that was why I added the controllers in the title but hopefully another engineer finds your comment helpful

@ihe+19TXUPVF my intent was to add value to those searching a Layoff site for possible answers. You went another route.

@won+19TXUPVF definitely my favorite comment in this forum

@khy+19TXUPVF thank you and I am interviewing for a dream job now so fingers crossed

The snails pace comment is true but not just with EM, I hear in accounting there is a certain “stigma” with starting your career in the industry vs public accounting at the big 4. My friends at the big 4 work in pretty high stress, fast paced environments with a lot more hours for less money but at the potential for higher growth or better exit opportunities.

I’m not an accountant so I can’t give much career advice but if you really enjoy the field maybe consider switching over to public? If it’s just a job at the end of the day though I’d imagine you can switch over to a company similar to EM.

Each employee should take one for the management and demand a 50% pay cut. It’s the expertise of the management that makes the company great, not the masses of unproductive and uneducated employees.

F— do you work? Ain't a snails pace where I'm at. Love these blanket statements "exxon workers are ______" Whoever interviewed you is an id–t. Maybe it'd be a good fit?

I don't see this being the case in Engineering roles.

Never heard the snails pace comment, and I interview somewhat regularly just to keep up practice, gauge my value on the market, and see what is out there. I absolutely agree with your comment about not developing skills in controllers that are useful to other companies. Make sure to tailor your resume to the jobs you’re applying for to mitigate that problem from an application standpoint, but ultimately you’ll have to pick up those skills either at your new job or develop those skills ahead of time outside of work