I’ve been working at EM for 20 years and if i were coming out of school today, i am positive i would not come work for this company. In the 2000s, EM was a powerhouse. All of my colleagues were intelligent and had bright futures ahead of them. Today, i often feel like i work in a special needs classroom half the time and a prison for the other half given how dark the campus has gotten. To any recent graduates reading this and considering joining EM, i highly recommend reaching out to current employees (not your future supervisor), about their experience at EM.
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Another post said what I was thinking. Oh how the mighty have fallen. EM is NOT the company it once was when I started with them over 20 years ago. If I was starting out my career now I would definitely not work for this Exxonmobil. Things have changed so much and I’m not sure the leadership is truly aware of the toxic culture they have created.
Yes. That just means ExxonMobil will have to pay BETTER than industry to get them back. ExxonMobil’s cost cutting now will result in the company eventually needing to overpay to attract people to what is widely recognized as a cr-p culture.
Biggest issue in my view with experienced hiring is that management doesnt know how to do anything except PIP and force them out for culture reasons within the first few years. I think some people in industry have already figured this out and avoid EM when job hunting.
Agree that external-hire model is being implemented for certain skill sets. However, the ironic truth is that the company is not paying enough to actually succeed in this realm. So it can work in three ways:
- EM picks up the occasional strong external hire who has a motivation other than salary…ie work-life balance, location, etc. These are few and far between, and won’t be a majority. They will also be a flight-risk, if their priorities change.
- EM picks up poor-performing experienced hires who are being passed-over by other majors. Maybe they succeed here. But high chances are they will be a liability and lose the company money. This will happen if the company insists on moving from #1 to #2 without fixing pay….and we are seeing some of this now.
- EM fixes pay to consistently attract strong experienced hires. If you are already sitting in these groups, you will finally benefit too as long as your skill-set is comparable. However, debatably, you could also leave and rehire if you don’t think there is value in keeping your tenure.
So the question is: Will EM realize #2 is not the right strategy? How long will this take? And will this decision be across the board? (Probably not. They might be okay with #1 for engineers, #2 for IT and #3 for LCS….just as an example.)
Based on the external board hires.....company is moving from long term career development model to an external hire model. Campus hire for career is no more. Think about what you can get from company over a 5 year employment period and move on. You'll increasingly be replaceable with external hires or contractors.
Saw this train wreck coming about 10 years ago although not to the extent of now. Unreal how the mighty giant has fallen. Took pride in the technical strength and competencies and leadership in the industry. Cutting edge in achievements and foresight and the ability to deliver world class prospect and projects. Fond memories of starting out as a new grad and having an actual office and own desk! Thinking that’ll last forever. But quickly saw changes and industry and exxons pride and stubbornness ki----g the ability adapt or innovate and appeal to the next generations of workforce. Left to our own demise…and made the choice to leave when market was high. Working for small independent since then, leveraged high paying exxon salary upstream combined with 30-60% bonus targets year and year and have never looked back. Made a decision life is too short to work for a pension and be upset, frustrated, and miserable every day with no career aspirations and feeling undervalued and utilized.
Just this year elected the lump sum pension payout and that’s truly the last tie to this old dinosaur. Encourage folks to invest in yourself and don’t let the fear, “stability” of exxon hold you back for bigger better things ahead. You can control that.
It hurts to see this is not Exxon of old--- a respected company that was a coveted job. I haven't been there as long as you and it breaks my heart too. I can't take it anymore
“Not the company I joined” is a big reason why I’m leaving soon too.
Yup!!!