#pip

Once you're on it, you already know how it ends. I really hope no one is fooling themselves into thinking they can fight it.

Looking for honest input from folks who’ve been through this.

I recently moved into a new individual contributor (IC) role. The onboarding/training has been very limited, and I’m still working to understand expectations and what “good” looks like.

A few complicating factors:

The scope of the role turned out to be significantly broader than expected (wasn’t fully visible upfront).
Deliverables and success criteria are somewhat ambiguous.
My current manager is still getting up to speed on the role as well.

Given that I already passed this year’s ranking and landed above NSI:

How quickly can someone realistically be put on a PIP after moving into a new IC role?
Is there typically a ramp-up period in situations like this, or can it happen fairly quickly if performance isn’t there?
In practice, how much do unclear scope / limited training factor into these decisions?

ExxonMobil’s MLRP is a performance‑ranking system that forces a fixed percentage of employees into the lowest category (“NSI”), often triggering PIP or separation options. It functions as a structured mechanism for performance management but has been widely criticized for effectively enabling layoffs under the guise of evaluation.

What the MLRP System Is
ExxonMobil’s Management and Leadership Review Process (MLRP) is an annual performance‑ranking system that categorizes employees into tiers. A key feature is the mandatory minimum percentage of employees placed into the lowest tier, Needs Significant Improvement (NSI). In 2020, ExxonMobil increased the required NSI share from 3% to 8%, expanding the number of employees exposed to performance‑based consequences.

Employees placed in NSI may be:

Forced to resign,

Placed on a Performance Improvement Plan (PIP), or

Given a Performance Improvement Leave (PIL)—a 3‑month paid separation option with benefits and outplacement services.

How the System Works in Practice

1. Forced distribution
   Managers must rank employees relative to peers, ensuring a fixed percentage fall into NSI. This is not purely performance‑driven; it is quota‑driven. Employees report that even strong performers can be pushed into NSI to meet the quota.

2. Consequences for NSI employees
   According to internal details shared by employees:

All NSI employees are subject to PIP or PIL.

Employees 40+ years old get 21 days to decide between PIP or PIL; those under 40 get 7 days.

All PIP/PIL programs must begin by September 1, with an off‑payroll date of December 1 for PIL.

1. Impact on newer employees
   Employees with less than two years at the company who fall into NSI are often asked to leave immediately.

Why the System Is Controversial
Employees and analysts argue that MLRP functions as a layoff mechanism, especially during downturns, despite ExxonMobil publicly stating it does not use the system to reduce headcount.

Reported concerns include:

Opaque criteria and limited feedback before being ranked low.

Morale damage, as employees feel they must “play the game” rather than focus on meaningful work.

Disproportionate impact on older or higher‑cost employees, aligning with broader cost‑cutting and offshoring strategies.

Summary Table
Aspect What It Means
Purpose Annual performance ranking and talent management
Key Feature Mandatory % of employees placed in NSI (raised to 8%)
Outcomes for NSI PIP, PIL, or forced resignation
Employee Concerns Quota‑driven cuts, morale issues, perceived covert layoffs
Company Position Claims system is for performance improvement, not layoffs

If you want, I can also break down PIP vs. PIL, explain how to navigate the system, or compare MLRP to other oil‑industry ranking systems.

Hello, so I was Pipped beginning of march from a bad performance review, (4/4/4/3)
And it took them till march to do so. Then I was told they don’t have a notice period for how long

Right now I’m on medical leave, I’m thinking of asking for a separation package? Is this a good move? I plan on framing it very professionally and want to know if since I got such a poor review and a PIP if severance is off the table?

I’m based in Tampa and a AVP

I've had multiple coaching memos doesn't take a genius that they want me gone lol.
How long do I have until a formal PIP?

Doing CAPs to manage people out and avoid paying severance has been happening a lot for at least a couple of years.

We are hearing about it more because it works and they are doing it more. The company saves money by pushing out long-term, expensive employees, especially those seen as too vocal, ethical, or outside the in-crowd.

Expect more of this. Most people do not have the money, time, or stability to fight it legally, and many assume it cannot happen to them until it does.

Do people at the management‑ladder level and principals, senior principals, chiefs—ever get put on a PIP? I’m asking because we have a principal on the team who struggles with fundamentals, guided the group in the wrong direction, and then claimed we needed “modifications” once things started going south... he is PIP material

Does anyone else work past 40 hrs to get the work done but only log 40? They threaten to PIP or fire if all the work isn’t done EOM, so we’re all working free OT (we are hourly). This is exhausting. I’d rather just be laid off at this point.

The company culture is in the toilet and it doesn’t seem like it can be fixed, there are too many unqualified people in too many roles because Abby was too terrified to lay anyone off during the pandemic.

It’s annoying to not know what is going to happen but a massive layoff would be the only thing that could save my group. Managers won’t even show up in the office but then nag and put people on PIPs because of their attendance. Sorry, typo there the “leaders” are leading others to not come in, by example.

Going forward...

• 8 hours a day. max
• uninstalling BYOD
• if asked to travel the answer is No
• save your pizza parties and team building. if i'm not working, i'm going home

not good enough? bring on the PIP. Will gladly take it and the package when laid off. Not everyone will leave on their own without for free

Capital Management is off to a horrendous 2026. Time for several PIPs for Fund Managers and Analysts. Time to eliminate quarterly unfair bonuses and time to clean house.

Morningstar Percentile Rankings 3/31/26

Morningstar as of 4/27/26

MoA Clear Passage 2020 Fund
100 the Percentile (The Worst)

MoA Retirement Income Fund
97th

MoA Intermediate Bond Fund
96 th

MoA Core Bond Fund
95 the

MoA Clear Passage 2025 Fund
89 th Percentile

MoA Clear Passage 2030 Fund
84 th

MoA Clear Passage 2030 Fund
83 th

MoA Clear Passage 2035 Fund
81 th

MoA Clear Passage 2040 Fund
81 th

MoA Clear Passage 2050 Fund
78 th

MoA Clear Passage 2060 Fund
77 th

MoA Dividend Growth Fund
67 th

MoA Stock Fund
62th

MoA Conservative Allocation Fund
61th

MoA Clear Passage 2015 Fund
56th

MoA Clear Passage Aggressive Fund
52th

MoA Small Cap Value Fund
50th

MoA Mid Cap Value Fund
49th

MoA Growth Fund
44th

MoA Global Equity Fund
41th

MoA Core Plus Bond Fund
37th

MoA Small Cap Growth Fund
31th

MoA Aggressive Allocation Fund
38th

MoA Aggressive Allocation Fund
29th

A lot of chatter around layoffs, but it seems that they are going to just starve out and fire folks in the B2B Mid Market space. Unattainable quotas, 30 day PIP process, calls for 75% of our time which limits finding real deals within our base. Over 22 years with the company, I cost more than most of my peers. I would be a natural layoff candidate. Would love to hang for a RIF, but I do not think they are ever going to let us go like that when they can get rid of us all free.

Anyone see it differently?

PIP isn't about improvement. Performance improvement plans aren't for helping you. They're either to save money or get revenge. That's all. If you are on PIP, don't expect to still be employed once it's done.

New vocabulary word. PIP-tired. Forced into retirement by NSI after decades of contributing at a high level.

Seems like EMTEC is planning to increase the PIP % across all of its organizations this year. All the made up LCS roles are being reassigned back into research, Done with stories used to justify CL upgrades . At the same time, we are seeing significant redundancy across research functions, and there is heavy hiring within BTC on computational modeling, RTO, and data science groups.

Here is what I don’t understand. All reps and managers come on here to complain knowing that with this regime nothing is going to change. Look at the East same d-mb VP and same d-mb senior directors. They are a click. They hire people that will not rat them out or people that will not question their poor leadership. None of them have 1 leadership bone in their bodies. Ask any of them about their plan to lead their teams. It’s all calls and pips and write ups. The funny part is she said on the all managers call you need to inspire your reps. Bit.. you can’t inspire your yourself. If there is any real leadership they would all be gone now. I’ll keep this job till I find something else or better yet I hope I get riffed.

I got fired for coffee badging. And I know I'm not alone. Cheaper to fire us than lay us off. Not even any sort of reprimand or PIP. They just went straight to "You're fired!"

Anyone had success getting out of PIP? Or once you are on it, you are done?

We’re all getting hit with the same weekly barrage. This isn’t shared responsibility, they’re offloading theirs onto us. The nonstop AI push is conditioning so no one pushes back when the PIPs start, because PIPs are cheaper than severances. Meanwhile ROI looks great and the shareholder buybacks keep flowing, so leadership acts like everything is fine. As long as the numbers stay green, the people doing the work don’t matter.

I’m about to get put on a “corrective action plan” over my AI sentiment score. Does anyone know what that even means? I don’t see anything on the Schweb about it. My accounts seem to like me a lot so getting put on a PIP over the AI giving me a bad score is really leaving me in a state of confusion

It's in the air. You see it in how people walk, how they talk, how they avoid eye contact with certain managers. Everyone is afraid. Afraid of being next. Afraid of speaking up. Afraid of a bad review that could lead to a PIP that could lead to being walked out. That's the culture at Exxon.

Is PIP something that can happen, or do you simply get fired, no chance to improve, if you messed up?

Rumour mill to confirmed that managers M2/M3 are being asked to drop to IC level. Rumor from my M5 level buddy is that the plan is to PIP these folks quickly and work them out without severance. The belief is that most won't be able to show value as IC4/5 if they have been managers for a few years quickly. Saves the company a boatload on severance costs. Also a downgrade might help a few quit themselves again saving seperation costs. The later is already happening in some offices.

Or do you get the whole thing to "improve," no matter what?

Is this a sign they're ramping up attrition, or am I just seeing isolated cases?

Any kind of severance or at least unemployment?

I dont think I will make it.

If someone is on a PIP and gets laid-off today, do they get severance? Cobra?

It's a torture device that ends one way - you getting shown the door. PIPs have been used as an excuse to purge people for years, now they're just cranking it up. My advice is to play along, put zero effort into "improving," and spend every ounce of energy job hunting. XOM isn't the greatest company on earth. There are plenty of better places, smaller ones, often, that actually value their people.

Just curious if EM executives set the same PIP targets for people that get paid full salaries vs people that get paid 1/10 salaries.
It seems the bar is set much lower for the 1/10 salary group. The person in America making corrections to BTC work products seems to get a lower ranking and more likely PIP’d than the engineers that made the potentially catastrophic errors in BTC.

How do you waste $ when your revenue is declining and customers are leaving?

Hire an alarm call center salesman who claimed to be a “CEO”, make him the “CMO” and give him $ to spend like a drunken sailor.

ML claims to have been a CMO at Wells Fargo at the time they didn’t have an enterprise CMO. Liar and manipulative beyond words.

He runs a cash spending engine and assigns people to the PIP line if you even dare question a business decision.

Lacrozza will be one of the biggest reasons USB will collapse. MC leaders laugh at him and yet don’t know jack.

Gunjan doesn’t have the guts to fix it.

What a joke. And yeah let’s sponsor the NFL - that’s going to be how we fix our pathetic market position.

I’ve noticed a lot of posts from employees who are feeling anxious, especially those with longer tenure. But if you look at the RTO and data science groups, most of the people who ended up on PIPs were actually under 40.
When a manager isn’t technical, they often rely heavily on the more experienced people in the team. Those employees frequently position themselves as “mentors” or “coaches” to younger staff — sometimes as a way to stay relevant. The reality is that in the age of AI and rapidly evolving tools, not everyone keeps their skills current, and performance gaps can show up. In some cases, that wrong team dynamic ends up putting younger employees at a disadvantage.
A big part of the issue is XOM’s structural design. Opportunities aren’t distributed evenly, and we end up having some people doing tasks for years.

Long story short...I expect to be NSI this year. Can anyone share the blueprint for dragging this out as long as possible before I am severed?

I joined this company 20 years ago and it is no longer the company I joined.

When DWW says people are the most important asset, he is not lying but he is not painting the whole picture. He needs to add the qualifier that people are a necessary asset and thus that makes them important because the company can not run without them. However, that doesn't mean he cares about the people as individuals with emotions and actual lives outside of work. When DWW says people are the most important asset he says it in the same way Egyptian Pharoahs said it while constructing the pyramids or how cotton plantation owners said it about their slave populations. DWW says it the same way Scrooge McDuck says it about his money. People, like overall wealth is important to him, the individual pennies and dollars are not - those are interchangeable.

I highly recommend employees under 40 look for new opportunities now. I recommend employees 55+ retire now rather than be shown the door via PIP. I recommend new hires do not join this company unless you are willing to give up your soul.

The promise of a 30 year career at this company is no longer true. It has truly become a job. There is no sense of family, no sense of being a technology company, no sense of fulfillment beyond a paycheck.

Hope you had time to digest this week’s news you can use newsletter.

What can I say that would resonate with you on moves we’ve made this week on change in our policies?

Would you take PIL when we NSI you because you don’t want to be living under constant pressure that you are more NSI away from being pushed out? Or would you still try PIP.
NRE coasters, what are you thinking ? Are you finally going to focus on your main job rather than building alternative career as a “Coach”

Would anyone that has been though it like to share what the PIP process is like? Im wondering if it might just be a blessing in disguise, because right now I get dozens of random, vague requests coming from all directions. And it’s always up to me to figure it out. If I do get chosen to be the “lucky one” to go on a PIP, does that mean I will be receiving clear, defined expectations? Will I have one focused agenda and that’s it? Is it confidential or can I openly tell my coworkers to leave me alone so I can focus on my PIP? Will my success, my ability to complete the goal be dependent on others cooperating, or will I be able to work independently on this so-called objective?
Will the supervisor somehow be allowed or prohibited from making the usual vague, random requests, changing the goalposts, and assigning work that depends on a bunch of other people who may or may not cooperate. Just curious how this really works and if anyone can shed some light or give some examples from their experience with PIPs.

Does anyone know of Citi giving people 4’s, then putting them on a pip, then failing them, and (not) laying them off - but firing them to not pay severance?

Any of my fellow non complaints get put on pip or reprimanded today? Didn't hear from management today not sure if that's good or bad haha.

Have they gave managers orders to place employees on PIP for 0 days in office?

Imagine this scenario. You get PIP’d, then work hard to pass it. Bring up your ranking the next 3 years. Think you’re in a good spot. Then in year 5 some manager says, “we need to cut headcount, find anyone that’s been PIP’d once in the last 4 years and we’ll knock them out this year with a PIP.” All the hard work wasted. Just another lever for the company to pull when they want to accelerate the headcount reductions.

Bumping this up for visibility. Found at @b2+1knpqre16.

If an IBM employee is put on a PIP - say for example - Seller not making their quota (assuming nothing else was a problem), and the employee is terminated as a result of the PIP, will IBM fight unemployment pay? I have received conflicting information. One person was adamant that the only ways to not be able to claim unemployment are 1) the employee quit on their own 2) insubordination.