The company is shrinking and is younger people need the roles to open up to survive. The pension doesn’t grow that much after 55 and certainly after 60 it really slows down. Do us a favor and help us get to 55.
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@165 100%! We are the GEN-Xperts!
@s7, bless your heart, you really thought you landed it! You speak with such confidence, eventually the accuracy may catch up one day. Cra-c-ker Jacks remains widely available in retail stores, is commonly sold at major league baseball games, school concession stands, etc. etc. Before you try to insult a generation, know your facts.
@s7 The Cr--ker Jack generation has been six months away from being replaced for some time now. First by younger workers.
Then by outsourcing. Then by automation.
Now by AI. And yet somehow we're still here. Looks like growing up with no supervision, raised by television, drinking from garden hoses, disappearing on bicycles for eight hours at a time has produced some surprisingly durable troubleshooting skills.
Gen Y unfortunately spent so much time being told they were special that half of them developed imposter syndrome the moment someone asked them to actually fix something. The premature balding may or may not be related. Meanwhile, millennials were given tutorials, coaches, mentors, onboarding plans, career paths, wellness plans, knowledge bases, FAQs, wikis, collaboration tools, and quarterly check-ins.
Then they walk into a meeting and ask:
"Where's the documentation?"
My brother in Christ...
You were supposed to write it!
Meanwhile, Gen X is sitting quietly in the corner, looking suspiciously young for our age, wondering how we accidentally became the experts. Honestly, it's becoming embarrassing for everybody.
@s7 I’m staying on now just to p’s you off. Hahaha.
@qg, anyone who remembers cr--ker jacks should have been retired by now. If you haven’t, leave now. If you’ve already retired, please do us all a favor and just leave already.
@qh Are you sure that's how it works. Look at people they PIP each year
@OP you could do yourself a favor to make it to 55:
- Try showing up to work every day
- When at work, try doing some
- Stop looking at your phone, it can wait
- Stop being such a complaining little to-ser
@q1.. comments from a Cr--ker Jack box.
@pc, depending on interest rates and investment returns, your pension starts going down before 60. The 5% per year only compensates you for the fewer years you will receive the pension. Considering the investment return you forgo by continuing to work, your pension is actually shrinking. Anyone working beyond 55 in this toxic environment either didn’t manage their personal finances properly, lost half in a divorce, or has mental issues that prevent them from moving on.
Your pension actually goes down at 60. I don’t get why anyone would stay past that age. . Very odd.
At 5 to 8% NSI's per year, very few employees are actually going to make it to 55 years old to be eligible for retirement health benefits and 75% of your pension.
Just look at LinkedIn to monitor the number of employees that were forced out of ExxonMobil before they reached 55 years old.
As you know, even the HiPo's and the 52–55-year-old group is no longer protected from NSI.
Might be better to focus on your own survival and not worry about the age of people in other seats around you.
Good luck with retiring at 55 folks in 45-55 years bucket :)
@e7 I highly doubt that “young people” are writing these posts.
I don’t know anyone under 40 who sees anything in a corporate job besides a paycheck, or who gives AF whether some boomer/GenX workaholic dies at his desk waiting to collect his pension.
@e9 So what's the plan? Work until you collapse at your desk and they call the paramedics to carry you out?
Not how I want to be remembered but you do you.
@OP I’ll retire when I or the company wants to retires me and not for some altruistic reason.
I was hearing the same argument when I hired on in ‘80. Having retired in ‘16, my views exactly flipped. Imagine that.
Your plea for younger people to survive is futile.
What are the odds of a young person’s career surviving 30 years with 5% layoffs each year.
Even if a good performer, one boss that dislikes, or sees that young person as a threat can exit a good performer in one year:Put on NSI then ensures failure of the improvement plan.
Younger people should not fool themselves into thinking EM is a place for an enjoyable productive satisfying career until retirement. Have a plan by your 5th year and leave at most after 10 years and 1 month.
I personally failed to leave at 10 years and regret it. My friends who jumped ship at 10 years or less found much more rewarding careers and retired from those careers with millions more in savings while I am now stuck here trying to keep my sanity until I reach 55. I have a boss that seems intimidated by my knowledge and experience so likely taking the PIL in a couple of months.
I truly regret not leaving at the 10 years.
Don't worry we are leaving due to exxon piping us out over 50. One guy was piped at 51 and then again at 55. No one is making it to 60 anymore. 55 is the new 60. Exxon will take care of it so don't worry. I agree with year to year comment because at the end that is what I felt like.
@bp... when roads and airplanes make the possible destinations endless, all you can think of is Houston...? But I'll play along. No, is not Houston. But don't you worry, us old people can handle something as minor as flood insurance.
Young people shouldn't expect to stay at this company until retirement. That old way of working is gone. Everyone is essentially on a one-year contract here. Even if you perform excellently one year, you can easily be rated "Needs Improvement" the next. This can happen simply because your boss dislikes you, or because you are doing low-profile work that nobody notices.I have been here for 30 years, and I treat every year like a brand-new, one-year contract. Right now, I am waiting for my performance assessment just to see if I will be kept on for another year.My advice to the younger generation is to stay for just a few years, gain some experience, and then move on to a better job. A few years later, you can return to Exxon at a higher position with a bigger salary. Then, just repeat the cycle. You simply need to plan your life and career differently than my generation did.
Many of the over 55 crowd enjoyed much higher compensation. Much higher. For example, expat premiums that are now 15% were 40% when they were out age. They spend spend spend so they stay stay stay. Meanwhile it means you won’t be promoted.
I for one did retire shortly after 55 as soon as my replacement was ready to take over. OP has a valid point. I resented the hanger oners ahead of me who had blocked my advancement and I did not want to do that to the good people behind me. I saw it as immoral to keep going “one more year” when I had enough money and it was clear that the generation coming behind was struggling to raise a family with significantly lower compensation than I had enjoyed.
I left a few weeks shy of 60. You're welcome.
@az Lake house in/around Houston? Lol you’re going to be working for the rest of your life just to pay for the flood insurance (assuming you can even get coverage).
Like any age group, they have their strengths and weaknesses. What’s annoying is how they complain about the Exxon culture they helped build. Some of them don’t even want to bother learning anything new, they just keep pushing outdated methods to stay relevant. And many survive each cycle by pretending "training" new generations.
@b7 Polaris is the Requiem for this generation's dream.
That generation has spent their entire adult lives selling our country's future to the lowest bidder, enriching themselves and kicking the ladder behind them. Do you see the state of this company? Don't expect them to ever change.
@at... if it makes you feel better to think we're desperate, hold on to that thought. LOL from my lake house!!
Thanks for the advice but nah. I've never been paid more and never done less than now. Why would I choose to walk away from that?
How about you fetch us a fat voluntary resignation package and we will see. Otherwise, continue to wait your turn.
@a4 The only thing you’re carrying is your ego.
Go apply to some jobs and see how many calls you get back. That’ll tell you all you need to know about your professional value.
Also, no O&G office job is THAT hard. A lot of technical work comes down to documentation and presentation, and managing is, well, kind of a joke.
It’s a holiday weekend…give the soapbox a rest guy.
@OP These guys aren’t going to retire.
They all “like what they do” which is code for “I’m going to outlive my retirement savings, so I still need to drag myself to the office because I actually need the money.”
The only way these people are leaving is if they’re pried off their desks and dragged out the door.
The 55+ crowd has been carrying the younger generations in ranking for years. The age discrimination that pushes all the 55+ to the bottom of the ranking is humiliating (and probably illegal). The only consolation is that someday you will be 55 too and see the same discrimination. Have fun.