I've been at XOM for about 5 years now. My question is....are all similar employers as toxic and stressful as XOM, or am I just used to the abuse?
18 replies (most recent on top)
The ability to intimidate and stress people out is seen as a management skill. All the hipos are practicing
I left about 6 months ago and joined another large company. Looking back (and in my current company) I really wouldn't say that XOM is toxic. In my experience (from EMRE) people were generally pretty nice and very professional.
What was bad was that XOM somehow managed to take some of the smartest and nicest people in world and figured out how to chain them to a giant do-nothing machine where they would just turn the crank every day.
I still don't really get how it happened.
Real layoff disguised in "PIP" says it all.
There is one HiPo in UOG who refers to himself as “the tip of the spear for change”. I’d suggest the tip of something but likely not a spear. Very toxic landscape for sure ..
I’ve worked at multiple O&G companies and have friends all over the industry at both big and small O&G companies. Each may have a somewhat different theme but overall themes - outdated systems and processes, bloated management, limited career options, bad work locations, etc. are all very similar. The midsize operators - Oxy, Apache, MRO, etc. tend to be the worst culturally, while the JVs or former JVs like Motiva, ChevronPhillips, etc. are a little better.
@1mxc+1faWXJ4X
If Confucius ever said that, he must have been like you, an useless manager or well-sponsored Hipo who has guaranteed top ranking and absolute exemption from PIP.
The only positive thing coming out of my working this. Is realizing what is important in my life.
Not this job. It's my family.
I feel like nothing can get worse than it already is.
That evaluation. Seems like the are grabbing for reasons to fire people.
“Are all jobs as toxic as XOM?”
In O&G, yes. Outside of O&G it’s not as bad, unless you work for a major freight railroad or an airline.
I’m going to find out soon. There is nothing keeping me at my current location, month to month rent, a few friends, but nothing else. I stayed for this years vacation days. I didn’t look around much last year with vacation, holidays, and WFH wasn’t bad, but I’m not hanging around for the next ASSessment cycle. Are other companies as bad? I don’t know but they can’t be worse.
Confucius says that Toxicity is in the eye of the beholder.
No matter where you go, it's simply how each person perceives their job, company, peers etc.
In the early ‘90s I’ve worked for a major who was having a big layoff about every two years. It made for a really toxic environment, but not like what we have now at EM with the Sudden Death ranking combined with the yearly supersized PIP.
With this combination, unless you’re (highly) sponsored, your supervisor effectively owns you. All what you can do is crawl and lick his (her) feet, regardless who you are, an unproven new hire or highly respected technical expert. I’ve never seen this kind of situation in any other company; it’s beyond toxic, it’s like a company with a death wish.
No corporate environment is a bed of roses, and companies on a sharp decline are all prone to high toxicity. However, EM has a very particular blend of toxicity, a result of mixing old time rigidity and insularity with the new flavor of desperation in a company that was in danger of not paying its dividend, seeing its stock crash and probably going under.
Now there’s even a third toxic element. As profits soar on the back of the oil price and the management brags that happy days are here again, the big PIP keeps on going, so we have disguised layoffs combined with high profits. Never had that before and it’s difficult to top as a super-toxic morale ki*ller.
@arw+1faWXJ4X
The manager on duty is doing due diligence. Don’t worry, this can be done even better from BTC, so your turn will come soon. Let’s see how gracefully you’ll take it - after all, nobody will put a g_un to your head, right?
Every single one of the dozens of people who left that I spoke to after leaving feel MUCH better in their new job/company. Every. Single. One.
If you don't like your job, if you feel abused, if you think the work environment is toxic just stop complaining and quit. Nobody is pointing a g-n at your head to stay. Just have the guts to quit and look for something else.
There are different flavors of ‘toxic’ in every company culture.
It is why they call it ‘work.’ You aren’t going to enjoy all of it, all the time.
No