In the past as I’ve gotten in my car as my neighbor has waved to me on his day off every other Friday I rationalized to myself slow and steady wins the race. I bought the myth of we don’t have bonuses and don’t have 9/80 but in a downturn we will be slow and steady and in the end I will come out ahead. Obviously untrue. Benefits and jobs cut the minute there are signs of trouble and likely will never come back. Why would anyone stay? I’m applying elsewhere and am out of here. The lies I believed in the past that kept me making less and working more have been proven false.
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The myth only exists in the old-schooled era, where tech and IT were still in the developing phase, not in today's modern world, where tech and IT are fairly mature and new applications are rolled out every minute.
Everything has an expiration date and that myth has already expired. Sadly, those who are driving the XOM ship are still sleeping in that ship. They need to wake up and rewrite that myth using the artifacts in 2020.
Had 9/80 before joining EM and it was great. No meetings, very few phone calls, etc,. allowed me to get a tremendous amount of work done on Fridays. I often went in on what was supposed to be my 9/80 day off because I could knock so much work and reduce overload on normal work days. Or, sometimes it was nice to get a 3 day weekend.
EM culture expects you to work 10+ hour days to stay competitive, so their attitude is that you owe us 100 hours or more every 2 weeks. Why give you 9/80? Plus, they would make it such that anyone taking the extra day off would be “looked down on” so it probably isn’t even worth having it here.
If some of you guys knew what your neighbors at other companies made (plus the 9/80, plus the bonus) you’d c-ap yourself. The XOM insular bubble talk of “we don’t get a bonus but we get paid better” is false. I always made hover salary than XOM friends who shared their salary while also making minimum 20% bonuses
The famous response was: "Every company that introduced 9/80 regrets it because it doesn't work".
Ignorant id–t. Canada, for example, has an EOD (earned day off) every month (by law...), and it works very well (see Hibernia, Hebron).
The line I remember from a Dallas SVP (HJL) was " XOM will have naked Fridays before it has 9/80s"
How we leave things for the next generation is on us, as far as our realm of impact. An individual contributing accountant is not responsible for lack of recycling plastics or which businesses a company acquired to hedge for the unknown.
“If you want the change do it yourself..” The planning which people are talking about missing from the past and is affecting us now, is the responsibility of the ceo and board. How do you expect someone to change it themselves being none of importance?
I remember when I was a young engineer discussing the future with a business leader using an alternative feedstock for a process that was derived from plants. I was told that was not in the plans is all. Some of us have been thinking about these things, but are not in a position or do not have influence to impact anything.
We learn from the past by studying it. That means being realistic which often means having a critical eye.
For example in Iran, many thought voting a wasteful Shah out was best for the economy and people. And look what they got.
Don’t take things personally. None of you were in a position capable of influencing the future of a company.
Why blame the previous generations. They had their share of troubles. Since you want the change, take responsibility and do it for yourself. Blaming and pointing fingers at others is what has become our downfall. Own up to it for once.
Yes what they used wrote below. I am so angry at the previous generations for leaving the situation as it is. I plan my life looking down the pipeline to what will happened in the future. I make decisions to day based on what I expect about tomorrow. I save money because I may not have a job, I am not investing in oil stock because more electric cars will be used. In my job I plan for the future. I see a pipe corroding away and create a plan to replace it in the future and perhaps with a better metallurgy if the current is not optimum for the process. Why could previous CEO’s of oil companies and other leaders not have done the same thing. Stupid is a string word but yes.
I have trouble believing the future holds an security even for government jobs. When you destroy a country enough to cause massive amounts of taxpayers to flee while the value of the dollar erodes something is going to happen.
I miss 9/80’s. Those Friday’s off allowed me to catch up on chores and what not so that I could actually enjoy and rest during the weekend. It energizes you more for work and helps prevent burnout. Great system.
In the end it was not worth it.
In the end it was not worth it.
I went to work for a small company. It was just as bad as any big corporate (any large tiered organization). Performance not rewarded but more based on politics. It was very lenient. A couple of people continually messed up and were fine. One was even made a supervisor immediately after they wanted to get rid of this same person for poor engineering performance. The person who owned it had a family member working there and the family member was placed in a power position because of that. He was not good at his job. They were trying to move him somewhere in the company where he would be a better fit and still satisfy the owner.
Also based on what I have seen there and in my own family, family should almost never work for family.
I went to work for a small company. It was just as bad as any big corporate (any large tiered organization). Performance not rewarded but more based on politics. It was very lenient. A couple of people continually messed up and were fine. One was even made a supervisor immediately after they wanted to get rid of this same person for poor engineering performance. The person who owned it had a family member working there and the family member was placed in a power position because of that. He was not good at his job. They were trying to move him somewhere in the company where he would be a better fit and still satisfy the owner.
Also based on what I have seen there and in my own family, family should almost never work for family.
After all of this, I'm looking elsewhere as well. My job was spared just before the holidays, but with the next PDS cycle right around the corner, it's going to be another game of musical chairs where your performance really doesn't matter and the company can PIP you on a whim. In addition to all the other programs that are shifting jobs overseas (mainly because exxonmobil assets are more expensive to operate versus other majors).
This company is really going downhill fast, better get out before you are blindsighted by the stupid process. Tried to buy a house recently and the HR advisor at my facility told me "exxonmobil does not do verbal employment verification" wtf is wrong with this company??
OP and @zbw+18GdXaM4 - excellent posts, so true and something we all need to remember at all times. Thanks guys.
It’s only a job. Don’t love something that can’t love you back. And even if you think your manager or supervisor is friendly, remember they’ll save themselves at your expense if necessary.
Famous employee forum respond to 9/80 question from an executive was why would I give you Fridays off when I can get you to work 9-10 hours a day and every Friday? Pretty much sums it up. They aren’t looking out for you they are looking to get as much as they can and give you just enough that you don’t leave. Corporation exists to pay dividend to shareholders. Not to care for you. Not to provide you a job. Not to love you. Understand the relationship and your life will be a lot less stressful. The minute they don’t need you out the door you go. Doesn’t matter what you’ve done in the past or think you can do in the future. You are just a number. A gear in the machine. Your supervisor may care about you as a friend but they can’t stop the machine. If you want something different likely need to find a small business run by a family. That is the only place I know where we are all in this together has even a chance of being true. If you want job security or job for life try government job.