Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

@hfua+1reFgYXn

If an engineer wanted to be in management thirty years ago, the engineer had to demonstrate that they were technically competent in the group that they were managing.

The problem isnt the engineers, it’s the managers that pushed experienced engineers out. Young folks with potential saw it and left. Pitiful political group leads were assigned that care only about themselves. Engineers ask for help and get questions fed back to them when the GL actually answers the phone. If they ask too many questions then they become pip feedstock. At least that’s what happened in BR. That’s why I left and went to Shell. Much better with actual managers that know what’s going on and aren’t power mongers looking to stir cr-p and create imganginary problems so they look good come ranking.

Wonder why they don’t can the id--ts responsible for letting engineering get in this bad of shape? Oh wait they transferred already so they don’t have to be responsible for their actions

Does a commodity company really need top-knotch engineers?
For what?
They need top-knotch traders/accountants, logistics software and lobbyists for subsidies.
It's pork-belly and cheese business now.
maybe it always was.

Unfortunately, these days agreeability is valued more than capability. We’ve promoted people into positions of management who lack the basic understanding of the groups they are responsible for simply because they don’t make waves.

@1bad

100%, you definitely need the right "look" AND talk the right way to get tapped as hipo in XOM. The key to success is how you can take other work and pass it as yours and brag about to management. Never underestimate powerpoint engineering.

I think in a (sick) way, certain race traits are more likely to stay quiet, working hard in the background, and comes PDS, we all knwo what happen.

OP, what's been said is true. Management doesn't see knowledge as a competitive advantage anymore. It sees it as a cost. Darren wants to cut expenses so he outsourced everything to India including engineering. The pathetic strategic move by Darren is that he's hired the worst engineers in India. The ones that didn't make it. The ones with degrees from third tier schools in India. The ones that don't give a fvck. No wonder there's no engineering skills left at Exxon. Most of the people that knew how to get things done were forced to retire, forced to leave, or just laid off in the last six years or so. But there are still a few around that know how to get things done. The problem's that management doesn't listen to them, they're ignored by the low and middle managers and executives put in charge of managing departments. These managers and executives with absolutely no skills of anything are just thinking about how to be promoted to the next position and not about getting things done or adding value to the company. So the people that know just keep their mouths shut and collecting a paycheck. Let the refineries blow up. They just don't care. Also there's no money left to do anything. Every single cent goes to the investors. Darren isn't plowing back any money into engineering or development in general. So there's nothing to work on.

I always tell young engineers that ask about Exxon not to come here. There isn't anything left. I tell them to go look for a job with another company. Unless they cannot find anything then just take the job at Exxon as a stepping stone to something better later on. There's just nothing left here for good engineers.

@1guj If by “diversity” you mean middle-aged white guys with (thinning) brown, blonde, and grey hair, then yeah, you’re 100% right, because these are the only people who seem to be doing whatever passes for engineering at Exxon.

FWIW, the guy who needed to have gravity explained to him was in his late 40s and whiter than Antarctica. I doubt race played a role here. He was just a straight-up mo--n. Apparently so are you.

The ones worth anything left. Now it’s just a hollow shell of yes men and diversity picks. Mismanagement and micromanagement ruined engineering several years ago. It will take decades to replace the good ones but now no one worth anything wants to come to work here. The word is out and this garbage Btc cr-p is a friking joke. Communist infested the management ranks and ruined the company from the inside.

@1wgz

Hey you…

Yeah, you…

…go edit some purchase specs.

Job creation for contractors like yourself. Be appreciative Exxon has a job for you.

Technical expertise is no longer valued as it was - or as it should be. As such, many of the best and brightest (young and old) have jumped ship and so many of the actual “doers” are gone. Bye-bye institutional knowledge. Contractors run the show. Now just waiting for the next big incident to happen. OIMS - What’s that?

It reflects a complete lack of appreciation of, and investment in, the technical advantaged employees the company once viewed as being competitive differentiators. The last decade at least has been a downward trend in sustaining that capability. Covid accelerated the race to the bottom. EM now is no worse or better than anyone else, everyone is converging at the absolute minimum in everything for minimum cost. Investment to rise above the pack to add value is not the strategy.