With all the discussion lately about the “low-hire, low-fire” labor market, I’m curious whether PIPs are effectively being used as a low-fire tool at Exxon.
Hypothetical example:
John Smith is in his mid-30s, has been with the company 5+ years, has consistently been above NI throughout his career (not OWD, but not NI either).
A few questions for those familiar with how things work in practice:
- What are his chances of making it to retirement age (say, 55+) if he continues performing at roughly the same level?
- If he ends up on a PIP, is a single PIP typically enough to result in termination, or are there usually multiple opportunities to improve?
- If someone successfully completes a first PIP, what happens if they are placed on a second PIP later in their career? Is termination effectively inevitable at that point, or can people recover and continue progressing?
Not asking about any specific individual—just trying to better understand how the process works in reality versus on paper.