Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

Your m_o_m_s house???
Great benefits, low cost of living

Ha ha ha ha ha ha

I love the annual kn--e in the side where they take benefits from you mid assignment. They should at least lock the terms for the extent of your assignment.

I'm pretty sure the tmo gets off on sticking it to any expat.

Like other mentioned here, totally agree because currently i am also on expat assignment.

1. expat package is not as attractive as before. They can revise the package on annual basis and normally it will not benefit you
2. the package given may be not enough (some cases) so you need to fork out your own money
3. PDS ranking maybe tougher for you in the next assessment. It will be biased with a lot of factors such as work culture, CL level etc. Most of my friends typically have lower base salary if compared to their peers due to not-so-good PDS results during expat assignment

Anyway, i am looking forward to go back soon! All the best to you OP

Imagine being in a certain country (with a worthless currency and the highest inflation in the world) on assignment and the local draw rate the company gives you is less than half of the actual conversation rate from usd. So you're left with finding shadey routes to bring usd from the states and change them at illegal change houses.

And the company finds this acceptable.... I guess this is OK until someone gets on the bad guy's radar and ends up home invaded. Tmo would still probably consider it the reality of living in said country so its OK.

Housing Spendable is the biggest con in the expat package. You are recommended to select ‘Housing Spendable Deducted’ in order to receive full benefits and minimal risks. However, it costs more money in the long run.

First, EM removed a number of protections, so ‘Housing Spendable Deducted’ is likely to push costs back to you. They aren’t always obvious.

Second, as you are on assignment and get CL treatments, Housing Allowance (positive) and Housing Spendable (negative) are adjusted in tandem. You never end up ahead. To the prior post’s point, you also never end up with a positive change of your location housing allowance, even if it is needed. The company somehow assumes that your US housing cost would have also increased, just as though you are on an 1-year rental contract in the US. Yes, wtf is the right response. The average US employee is a homeowner with a mortgage that is constant, but on assignment they are a renter with variable rates. Therefore, the US leg (deduction) should be fixed at the time of the assignment and the assignment housing leg (benefit) should be increased if the housing prices at the assignment location increase.

Finally, the company and even HR don’t understand the concept of Housing Spendable Deducted vs Waived…..so you cannot even have a meaningful discussion about how policy changes have taken what is supposed to be the most financially-protective election, and turned it into the most costly for the employee.

Select Housing Spendable Waived. This means you might need to get your own storage unit in the US. You will also have to cover a little more of your move-back costs. If you keep your US house, you will need to rent it with no company assistance. But at least that cost-profile is all in your control, and the company cannot change agreed-upon coverages. You then also have some chance of benefiting from a housing adjustment or CL increase on assignment. This is especially important if your initial package is under-water and you are hoping a promotion will help close the gap….or gasp the company actually makes an attempt to correct a living allowance.

None of this is obvious unless you have already been an expat.

Also I agree that the problems with the current policies lead to singles being able to accept assignments and families declining (based on cost and more limited private school support). If an expat assignment is needed for development/advancement, you start to wonder if this is going to contribute to one of those rampant unconscious biases. It’s almost something you could even prove by looking at which employee groups are exposed to the most out-of-pocket costs in order to maintain the same standard of living.

Travel allowance has gone down the past couple of years when airline tickets have increased about 75%. It is based on economy class. I think india it is based on business class.
Housing is based on number of people. Reduction in host housing about 50 percent 2 years ago but the home housing spendable which is a negative number hardly reduced. Wtf
Lost cost country will not have cost of living adjustment.
Only benefit is expat premium. In low cost country with no kids u can live on this.

Beingban expat is not the same any more.

Strongly suggest u don't take an assignment until you see the compensation sheet.

This is so true. Expat advisors struggle with much worse life problems in their home countries. When 1st world expats ask earnest questions, they receive a thinly-veiled contempt and subterfuge. I have even been laughed at.

Someone who is struggling to afford food and shelter isn’t going to care if you are paying out-of-pocket for your children’s private school. ExxonMobil has found the perfect model for an unsympathetic ear.

Current expat here. Tmo and your expat advisor is likely to be based in a country that has an entirely different set of life problems (much worse than yours) so whatever problem you have, the expat advisor will likely have no concern for you. They are fighting to pay the bills and buy food each month so your problems are seen as greedy and spoiled. Even asking for what is specified in the policies is a burden to them.

They know how much you make and are outright hostile to you as a result. Just getting tmo to reply to your emails in an incredible feat.

Others here are correct, over the past couple years many of the benefits have been cut are constantly degrading. You will always be out of pocket for your housing unless you want to live somewhere the locals think is acceptable (hint: it's not a US standard of living).

Another interesting facet of moving US jobs to low cost countries is that those low cost countries are now outsourcing support back to US contractors. So now there is a full loop of cluster fu-k going on. You'll be suprised that you have to send an email to someone in the USA, who has to send an email to someone in Buenos Aires, who has to send an email back to the USA, who has to reply to you. I don't know how this makes sense but whatever.

I can't wait until all this business is outsourced and exxon can cut these tmo leaches.

Here are rumors of where people are accepting and rejecting positions. Read into it what you like.
Accepted: Singapore, India, Brussels
Rejected: US, Canada, Midland (US), UK, Thailand, anything Explorer

Ok, real advice?

1. I have never heard of someone getting more than 2 location options. If you are really getting unlimited options, be suspicious. Either there is large attrition, or people have already turned down the packages in those locations.
2. Your Business Line might want to do the right thing, but they will likely have limited ability to influence the actual package.
3. Depending on your exact situation (family size, CL, location, etc), I hear packages range from breakeven to costing the employee $10k-$30K/yr. You might find some tolerable ways to bridge this, but you may be taking a pay cut or a lifestyle cut.
4. The biggest factors that are out-of-balance are housing allowance and children’s tuition caps. The second biggest factors are things like: No more vehicle help, no more rent protection for home residence, no more travel-home days.
5. Be careful of tax impacts, if you have any other incomes (ie rental properties, working spouse, stock account.) There are some areas where these could come with tax exposure that the company does not cover.
6. The company can and will change the policy 1x per year. If the policy changes to your disadvantage, you have no chance of challenging it and winning.
7. You are essentially off the job-market while on assignment. The company has 100% of the power, and you cannot even be effective in a job-hunt. This becomes very personal when your benefits are cut.
8. You will not be able to see the expat allowance until you accept a position.
9. You have the most power prior to moving. If something needs to be fixed, you have a limited time to try to do it.
10. You CAN turn down your assignment if the package is causing you to lose money. You CAN ask to be moved home if already on assignment. It won’t affect your career. (Don’t let anyone bully you into thinking otherwise.)
11. An expat position won’t necessarily help your career either. Don’t let anyone tell you that you should take a financial loss for a great career opportunity. From conversations, 1 in 3 expats lose ranking on assignment. Some have really gotten hurt.
12. HR doesn’t care if you are well ranked or hi-po. All HR cares about right now is saving OPEX. You are not special. (HR claims CL 30+ receives the same package and treatment. I would love to know.)
13. You will be annoyed by random older managers who still think the expat circuit is a gravy-train. They aren’t likely to believe your complaints. (HR continues to feed managers propaganda about the fairness of the program and how employees are just greedy.)
14. You will question whether it was the right decision for your family….especially if you have kids.
15. If you have any special health considerations, better to reconsider. Navigating different medical coverage and dr-g names is very hard.
16. If the Expat guide says you will be assigned consultants to help, make no mistake that you will be doing this yourself. You will need to take the PIP approach with these contractors: weekly calls and measurable objectives. A lot of times, they will assign the work back to you.
17. You will be asked to initially fund a lot of the move, so have $15-20k on hand, and a good ‘rewards’ credit card. Do not expect to be reimbursed by the company by the time interest is due.
18. If you are okay with # 1-17, the actual experience of living in another country is pretty great.

Fawley. Weak currency and literally nothing to do for the last few years it has left. Easy life!

OP here. I’ve reached out to a couple of friends who are expats. Trying to cast a broad net and get unfiltered opinions. The expat program continues to be severely degraded with many of the financial benefits cut. Also experience varies based on who is currently in leadership position at the location. Hence the request for input.

DW private executive restroom up at the top floor of The Cube Houston Campus. You can kiss his ar-e after he does a "Number Two"

Well, he/she is not asking mentors because no one knows how bad it actually is….unless you have seen a package issued in 2022, after inflation and rent increases. It is awful. Really, really awful. I am seeing more people decline then accept, for financial reasons.

This warrants a more serious and less troll-y thread.

Sakhalin

LOL, clearly op has no clue what he's talking about......

They are offering you any location you want because the packages underpay. Are you ready to pay out of pocket? You won’t even know how much you will be paying-out-of-pocket until you accept.

Choose wisely so you’re not sold off with the next wave of asset sales

If that’s true why are you not asking your mentor(s)? Why ask random trolls on the internet? Or is this a brag post?

How about China?

Depends on what you are looking for a role to advance your skills: Qatar if you can swing it an easy role to advance career at XOM then an advisor role in the BTC; get a leadership and mentor role with zero accountability and responsibility on the output of the BTC engineers and a 30 or 40% uplift from what I was told.

The U.S. Assuming you are from the BTC. No more expat opportunities for locals.

Midland

Uranus

Google "the illusion of choice"

India

Sudan