I'm sure some folks who quit Exxon still lurk this board. I've been thinking about quitting for months, most likely even longer now that I think about it, but there's always something that keeps me from doing it. Right now it's the state of the job market. When you decided to quit, what was the thing that finally pushed you over the line?
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- Lack of growth for those who desire technical careers at manufacturing plants and don’t want to go to Houston.
- Discrimination for putting my family first above my career. By this I mean management deliberately overlooking me for opportunities and projects because they THOUGHT i wouldn’t want it due to my family life. Comments were made, HR was brought in the conversation, and it was turned around on me. Nothing was done.
- I didn’t want to go to work. Ever. I complained non stop. When does a career take over your general well being? When is it just enough and not worth it? This was the breaking point for me.
I’ve been in a new job for a while now at a smaller company and I can tell you I’ve never been happier. Yes I have general curiosity on how Exxon is doing, especially at the plant I was at, But I’m not looking back.
- The last 2 years in Q1 of each year, I was scapegoated for things that weren’t even close to my fault. Conveniently before assessments. I left before they could rank me as NI.
- Hated the way the treated older engineers.
- Offshoring. No technical ladder.
- I was smarter than my BTL and basically ran the unit for this individual. This individual was clueless and had no leadership of technical chops.
- Company I left for has better pay, benefits, and career advancement.
Ageism by policy, lack of respect from know nothing HiPos, automatically dropped in rank at 55, plenty of money and lots of opportunities lying in front of me. Had a great retirement send off, fantastic 1.5 years traveling then back to something I'm excited about it. Good luck to all
If they goose egg me on the raise again this year I’m going to coast as long as possible until they either fire me or I get so bored I have to quit to save my sanity.
I quit because
- I didn't respect management... Both because they're incompetent and because they'll tell you any lie they need to in order to keep you around
- Despite what they say, there is no real path for technical folks
I'm guilty of this as well so I'm not throwing shade but, it's crazy how many folks who have cut ties with the company are still checking in here.
NI ranking -> no raise
Excellent ranking -> also no raise
There's no incentive to work here anymore
Haven't quit quite yet but applying elsewhere. 15 years in and just kinda done with EM bullst. Figure the bullst at other companies can't be too much worse. I assume they'll replace me with a low cost dude from BTC so it's basically win win for everyone.
Some one told me once when the bucket of money gets larger than the bucket of exxon sh-t it's time to leave. He was right. The sh-t at exxon had gotten worse every year. My ranking goes down and the constant harassment by the stupid fls. I have my exit planned and am waiting. I am not quitting but retiring.
It is difficult to read the minds of most the higher ups at XOM, they say one thing but does the opposite. Yes, it is fun and exciting to ride the unpredictabilities at XOM, but I had grown older and wanted more stability at my stage in life and so I quit. Can't handle anymore stress.
Wow engineers really have no Common Sense.
Discriminating against age is a federal crime thanks to our wannabee-communist government. Companies like XOM have to then invent these demoralizing systems to remove older people systematically.
I really hate a lot of things about how the company allows people to be treated but the ageism is something that especially bothers me. I cannot understand why a company that can deliver such incredible engineering feats cannot treat experienced professionals with respect and dignity. I am a young person who is embarrassed that my trusted senior professionals who are highly competent and fantastic role models and mentors for the rest of my team are treated so poorly at the end of their careers. I cannot believe the army of EM HR professionals cannot develop an acceptable solution.
Becoming eligible to leave at 55.0000 and being greeted with a NI ranking after never being in the bottom half my entire career.
I was with Denbury. After XOM took over, it quickly became apparent they didn't know what they'd bought, and that they were going to cancel every project I was working on (which they finally did after I was gone). I chose to retire days before turning 60 (and having 40 years of industry experience) and days before officially going on the XOM payroll (and systems). I decided that my time was better spent pursuing a different passion than reservoir engineering: songwriting. Probably the worst financial decision (yet one of the best decisions) I ever made.
You can hear clips of my songs (and links to the full versions on streaming platforms here:
https://davidpennybaker.hearnow.com/
65 yo, 35 years in the oilfield, financially independent, a full $401k, EM monthly retirement checks = No reason to work for EM any longer = Life is good. Peace.
I got a bad rank and I left
The never ending up talking of India and the perpetual down treading and devaluing of HC10 folks.
Brazilians who were so into the cult of EM leadership, stole my work, talked only b$ loudly in all the calls, and got so infatuated by their sponsors like they just slept together last night. All of them are in Polaris now lol.
@OP
I left after 20 years as I finally realized Exxon fits the classic definition of a sect - a bunch of rules and behaviours that are absolutely non sensical to any sane individual are normalized and even questioning them is frowned upon - the constant gaslighting , the archaic and dictatorial ‘ranking’ system, designed to reward loyalty over competence, the potential setting designed to control people are just a few examples … I never looked back and haven’t regretted my decision for one second .