Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

OP,

Ok boomer

That is all

As hominem attacks usually say more about the person who is throwing the slander than the recipient. Lazy etc. Ad hominem and useless logic.

Never consider xom the king of all industries. Largest in oil and gas but doesn’t make it the king.

The guys that have actually made the big business decisions in last 10 years that lead to where the company is now are all in their 50s and 60s.

LOL. Catch and release.

OP - If I recall correctly, the mess from the digital transformation was the result of senior people who were leading the transformation but had no knowledge in IT, wasn't it? Being older and more senior does not necessarily mean being wiser and more knowledgeable. There might be situations where that would be true but there are also situations where that is not true. The digital transformation is an example where that mentality went wrong. Give me a reason why we have senior people from chemicals and operation to lead digital transformation? What did they know about IT? Even after all that happened with the transformation, I doubt their knowledge in IT has improved enough to lead the transformation again if given another chance.

Don't blame everything on the younger generation. Sure, we can blame some people from the younger generation for being self-entitled but at the same time they can blame us for being arrogant and ignorant with our seniority. You said they wouldn't be able to accept the simple truth but at the same time they could say the same thing about you.

Finally, keep in mind that the recruiting of the younger generation was first done by senior people, who were also supposed to be the ones to train these youngsters to be the next leaders at the company. If you are blaming them now, aren't you supposed to blame the recruiter/trainer of this younger generation first?

Not true. EM's decline has nothing to do with the people, it has everything to do with a stale culture that just stopped wearing three piece suits in like 2011 (other than law firms, everyone else stopped in 2000)..but that is just a trivial example. The reason EM is no longer the king is because it was not forward thinking enough to position itself as an energy company vs O&G company. EM continued to make big decisions based on that limited and potentially fatal O&G mindset despite all of the sustainability "whispers". Yes, EM was the king as was Blockbuster...Willie Peterson would be very disappointed. Who is Willie Peterson you say?....exactly

@1vnu+19oo6gxz.

It wasn’t short service employees who made the decisions and presided over a formerly great corporation that was booted out of the Dow last year after having been a dog for 6 years (stock price and market cap down 75% during that period).

We purchased XTO at the top of the market and look how that played out. Ironically, fracking is an Achilles heal for ExxonMobil. In a long ago past, OPEC controlled prices and ExxonMobil thrived due to its large scale and its vast resources. Now, the frackers (beyond the control of OPEC) quickly move in to fill supply drops and keep prices relatively low. Good for consumers but not so much for oil majors.

So, we are just a large company in a commodity business that will no longer benefit from $100 oil prices. The multi-year global demand lag coming from the pandemic will make things worse.

Let’s hope Darren can pull a rabbit out of his hat and deliver on his earlier commitment to double profits by 2025 through growth projects. Smart money is on that not happening. New plan is likely to just to cut whatever he can to maintain the dividend so the stock price doesn’t drop to $1 (because nobody in their right mind is buying our stock for capital appreciation anymore).

Bad boomer! How many times do we have to tell you the difference between a fact and an opinions.. Jeez.. You forgot again didn't you!

@OP this is the dumb mentality of the boomers at this company. We built it up and the newest generation has just been bringing it down.

I'd say that I had a bridge to sell these boomers, but they would likely just take credit for the original design and implementation of the bridge. Then go on to talk about the best bridge this company built and finally talk about how they did it all in record time, below budget, and while it was below freezing the entire year. Dumb boomer would then walk away feeling how how they enlightened the conversation with their useless ramble and then turn around and tell others how they mentored the youth into building the best bridges for the company and how the company values their years of service and experience.

God, not the generational generalization flame-bait again.

No sense in pointing fingers to assign blame, in my opinion. What we’re seeing here is the culmination of years of believing that XOM always knew best, or that those in the company were the “best and brightest” (ugh), that the company could do no wrong.

That kind of thinking has led to the stagnation of innovation, never truly challenging norms, and just falling in line within the company. You see it in the doubling down on current and old strategies, late entry to and denial of emerging trends and technologies, and just resting on your laurels until your competitors catch up.

You see it in the culture surveys, of which the company has been in the bottom quintile of morale, even before the events of last year. If I recall correctly a big takeaway was that the company was successful in spite of itself.

No, what we’re seeing here isn’t due to any one generation. It’s the culmination of decades of inward-bound, arrogant thinking.

OP - Spot on!

Lol. Someone thinks highly of themselves. Poor investments by the "knowledgeable old timers" are what has ruined this company. Management layers that make zero sense and are bloated are bleeding the company dry. Not sure how any new hire in the last 10 years led to cr@pp investments like kearl, XTO, etc. Besides, there is so much oversight and micromanagement from those same old timers that you think lead to the king of industries (lol, this is the most dipsh!t comment I've seen on this site!) that that new hires are powerless to change anything.

Exxonmobil is a business of commodity. 10~15 years ago, technology was not capable of providing for the energy needs of the world and crude prices >$100/bbl. Exxonmobil was lucky in that it was a large producer and was able to capitalize on this from existing wells during this period. This time period has led to this seriously irrational thought process within older employees that the success was due to the performance of the employees (only the best and brightest, right?). Wrong!

Refining engineer here with about ten years experience. Worked at multiple sites. Responding to the boomers below blaming the young generation for company’s current culture problem. Telling you directly from my own experience that although there are many older engineers who are extremely knowledgeable and capable, that the majority of older folks I’ve worked with are extremely mediocre. I seriously wonder sometimes how they made a career in this company, when it’s clear many of them haven’t learned much in twenty plus years and seems like they s—ed *** at the foundational entry level roles. But makes sense considering oil prices were so high and they just rolled with the money machine. It’s seriously laughable some of the nonsense and circular logic I hear from older technical management, some of whom I’ve interacted with at different sites but have no knowledge retention and don’t understand the business. I just try to be innovative and think outside the box. Sad seeing the competent technical folks I mentioned earlier be so marginalized and jaded now waiting for retirement. All of you think you’re geniuses cause you were raised on the gravy train making billions of dollars a year and all you had to do was show up. Now that times are tough and you have to think you’re all exposed. And talking to friends in supply and economist roles especially now they laugh at the c-ap you ask. Y’all clearly haven’t learned the business in 30 years.

If what you say is true then it wouldn't be just Exxon experiencing what you claim. It would be all companies hiring anyone from the younger generation. But I am not your parent so believe what you wish.

I guess I am a bit more optimistic but I think history shows to never bet against the youth of the United States. We are capable of great things.