Seeing what's going on with Shell, and with oil and gas companies in general making cuts and layoffs despite record earnings last year, I am clueless as to where it would make sense to apply. It seems that everybody is offshoring as well. I’ve been with XOM for almost 4 years, and I don’t want to get stuck here.
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Chevron. Apparently they promote self serving egos with zero accountability worse than us
Meh go work for the Saudis for a few years saving like crazy. Or go independent contractor route until the pendulum swings back to in-house. Go work at a small plant in a nice location as long as it lasts. Then move to another. Change career to public service/fulfilling (downsize expenses). I would say find a government job but it looks less stable as agencies become more partisan. Start a company. Become a handyman or technician.
If you are tired of this mess contact your representative and tell them to do something to stop the constant outsourcing. There will be no American jobs left except upper management unless something is done. It only takes a couple minutes and we should at least try...
https://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
I'd go work for a consulting company. But really any other industry without the good ole' boy misogyny would be an upgrade.
get an advanced degree, MS or MBA while working at EM. This should help upskill you while you look for options.
OnG industry is cyclic but overall strategy is to outsource. Pharma and chip mfg has a lot of process jobs which are US based and will likely be that way. Since you are early career, it shouldnt be hard to switch.
But yes the days of cruising through a career with a bachelors degrees are gone now.
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“If you wanted to change companies, where would you apply?“
Not anywhere in O&G. Same turds, different toilet.
I made the jump to a private space company, but I have a niche skill and this may not work for everyone. If you haven’t been doing much for the past decade aside from Zoom calls and filling in spreadsheets it’ll be a tough job market to navigate.
If you're a young process engineer in the West you're royally sc--wed. All that work is going to India and will continue to do so. Anyone under 50 is on a spectrum of being sc--wed if you're a western process engineer. The golden age really started to decline late 2010s and accelerated through and subsequent to covid.
The only ones I knew that moved easily were the mechanical, civil and electronic engineers. The industrial hygiene and safety personnel had an easy transition as well. They all went to manufacturing and companies like amazon and tesla. The best places to me are the automation and robotics industries as they are the future. AI is a growing field as well. Build up your skills so they transfer to another industry and take assignments that will help. Pad your resume with these skills as well. Good luck and don't get stuck unless you are only a few years away from 55.