Is leaving Shell voluntarily a d-mb decision? Assume, 18 years of experince, and niche IT field.

I work in Woodcreek (well at home now). Been with Shell for the past 8 years, with 18 years of combined experience. I work in a rather niche part of IT (not cloud). While skills learned here can be applied at any other major company, the total companies in Houston which run such niche IT systems is probably 10. I do get calls from recruiters about potential openings, especially for cloud related jobs. Rather confused if I should explore options, or should I keep working at Shell.

Pros of Shell:

A pension plan. It's not the generous pension plan older employees enjoyed, but it is rather unique. I don't understand it fully, but seems like I can get ~$4K per month upon retirement based on the retirement estimator.
Name recognition. Shell on the resume gets attention.
No after hours work or weekends. Not sure how long this will last.
Surprisingly, my group was not impacted by reshape.

Cons of Shell (some of these may be specific to me)

I don't see a future beyond this job. I keep hearing managers saying there are hundreds of openings coming soon. Haven't see anything special so far. Openings seem to be for the Bangalore office.
No promotion or grade change in the last 8 years. Not sure if this is normal.
I don't want to get laid off at in a few years, and then face difficulty due to my age and stagnant skills. I should be working on the cloud like AWS and Azure.
Some other place may not be as generous with vacations and no after hours work.

Debating what I should do. I am not Amazon(AWS) or Microsoft hire material, so companies of that caliber are out of scope in my potential job search. Also, I have heard their jobs are only good in Seattle, rest of the cities don't get those dynamic amazing jobs.

Comment! It's anonymous!

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Imagine yourself a few months after your voluntary payoff runs out. Will you say to yourself “wow I was stupid to give up a great job” or “ I am so much better off”. Also, will you feel embarrassed about giving up your job or feel proud about making a decision.

I was in IT at Shell. I left 6 months ago. I certainly miss what could have been, hence me hanging around this forum, but I knew my career was going nowhere. I did not want to get laid off in middle age. Shore up your skills. Be ready to go any moment.

T.F.O. while you can. Deer Park is a sheethole

Good news….You work in IT and are not on call after hours or weekends. Interesting as my time in IT Shell (applications/SAP) that was a norm especially month end close. And any weekend was always 50/50. Bad news… No promotion in 8 years means you’re not one of the chosen demographic. Leaving successfully and happily is common. But as a retiree though, I’m constantly impressed with my benefits (28 years with a full pension + medical) when I talk to peers at the club who work in the oil industry but not with a Major or lawyers, doctors etc. they are very jealous. Tough decision. I quit once for a week and Shell asked me back. Glad I went back.

I think the "8 years in my current role without a promotion" is VERY common these days. They seem to be holding everyone back and pushing down responsibilities to lower job grades while cutting compensation and benefits.

Knowing about a hundred people who have left Shell (some voluntarily, some laid off), not a single person, regrets leaving. I was one who quit. When talking to those that are still at Shell, they seem like generally negative people that complain about Shell. When talking to those that left, they seem positive.

I agree with all of that. I am a person that chose to take advantage of Avanti and leave. The generous severance was the icing on the cake and I am a much happier person. I didn't have to look for work. It found me. The LNG project and travel overseas is a lot of fun. My old co workers are miserable.

Your position is shaky. I'd bet you won't last enough to get a good Shell retirement given the way the company is going.

So nibble around the Cloud, and keep your eyes open. Don't leave just yet, but have the mindset that you will be leaving soon. Accept it, and start working on things you need to do.

I'd start by saying, don't take advice from anonymous people on this forum...

So this isn't advice, just a personal anecdote. Knowing about a hundred people who have left Shell (some voluntarily, some laid off), not a single person, regrets leaving. I was one who quit. When talking to those that are still at Shell, they seem like generally negative people that complain about Shell. When talking to those that left, they seem positive.

But, everyone is different, and every team is different. So, you do you man.

Not a d-mb decision. Only the good ones leave is what the managers tell each other.

Thread regarding Shell Oil layoffs

Is leaving Shell voluntarily a d-mb decision? Assume, 18 years of experince, and niche IT field.

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