I work in the lab area and we still have several contractors. Exxon has PIP ed two of my co workers who did not deserve it but kept the contractors. This does not seem fair at all. Exxon saved a lot of money due to the fact that the contractors make 1/3 of the money.
16 replies (most recent on top)
Give it time. There will be near zero contractors by June
Nope. Not bothered at all.
@gra+17mpj5Lk wrote:
“Maybe if the employees had the skills the contractors offered they would not be on PIP”
Not likely dpsht! You are one of the worthless supervisors that prefers to be around the limited skills of contractors that don’t challenge your limited intellect. Slither back to your desk and keep playing puppet for the layers above you.
Who says contractors are cheap? At campus, so many annuitants come back as contractors for double their previous salaries.
No it bothers me more that there are expats still bleeding the system while there are layoffs.
Nope. Your comment is bull sh1t. Contractors are used to support increases / decreases in work demand. Ideally, we would have enough employees so that the waves of work do not require employees to be let go when work decreases. With the pandemic, work has been cut back so much employees are being impacted.
Are you trying to say in an ideal world we will always have constant growth and bring on those contractors when work wraps up? In an ideal world, contractors not needed by exxonmobil will move onto another job, say BP.
In an ideal world exxonMobil and other big corporations would have no contractors because they would just be hiring these contractors as employees. Most contractors are extremely hard working and knowledgeable and it is a shame they constantly get treated as second class citizens while performing the heavy lifting In our plants and labs. ExxonMobil get richer and greedier generally and what we do as the workers: we turn mad and angry at each other. Don’t be mad at contractors still having jobs- get mad at the greed, lack of leadership, lack of any planning for these rainier days, get mad at how disposable we are in this society where the rich continue to get richer while we all are on the chopping block in the next layoffs.
Alternative realities are so common in this forum. Contractors (especially those performing engineering functions) are down 95% of the previous levels. Then this guy points to the one of the very few contractors still in existence, and you have an army of people BASHING the company for keeping all of the cheap contractors. They aren’t. This is not a reflection of the larger reality.
Never understood the Exxon superiority claim of “we don’t do layoffs. We just let our contractors go.” Same. Effing. Thing. People are people I don’t care what hat they wear. Contractors are cheaper and generally more efficient. Makes no sense to cut them and then try to have unqualified employees do the work they were doing, just less efficiently and with poorer quality.
Some contractors are required for continuity of some work or regretted loss of knowledge in some areas.. All in all, I don't see a need for the company getting rid of all contractors before going after employees. 80%+ of contractors have been let go, employees are next.
It needs to happened regardless. Competitors are getting rid of 30% of their headcount while weareexxonmobil is very headcount heavy for the profits we are bringing in
@szv+17mpj5Lk, in which area do you work?, but I ensure you that one of those contractors shared a lot of knowledge with you, and now, you are claiming superiority. Indeed the contractor are cheap, but tell me why do you think the company hire the contractors?. The answer is: they are cheap and they contribute knowledge that Exxon can not give you with those c-appy training in Houston. The ones that you take every year in Houston or through your computer. In my point of view it is a bad idea that contractor share a lot of knowledge when they do not have a stable Job. Like in these pandemic days.
I think you answered your own question. If the contractors are doing the same or similar work and cost 1/3 the amount, why would the company want to pay more for employees? The market for skilled labor sets the price. If the market price for what you do is 1/3 of what you are being paid, your job is probably in jeopardy.
I do agree that using the fake PIP versus just being honest about the need to reduce payroll due to financial distress is a recurring problem at ExxonMobil. Honesty is still the best policy!
are we still hiring contractors in some countries?
I can only speak for myself as I am far superior in skills and experience than these contractors. Some contractors are good at trying to kiss A$$ but as far as work they are sub standard. One contractor complained to the supervisor that they need to be hired asap. The moral is way down with these contractors and some get to work from home when I cannot as an employee.
Letting go off contractors doesn’t benefit the company. Contractors are cheaper. No benefits, no overheads, no notice or severance when you cut them.
Employees were fake PIPed instead so XOM wouldn’t have to pay lay-off severance.
We are ExxonMobil!
Maybe if the employees had the skills the contractors offered they would not be on PIP