Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

@15n Why do you feel the need to post about this when you clearly have no clue what the company policy is? Your info is 100% wrong.

15n has no idea about expat assignments & hypothetical tax where country specific tax advantage or disadvantage is to the company

@15n wrong. The tax benefit goes to the company not the employee. Clearly you have never been in expat assignment.

@11h Not really how that works.

Yeah US citizens are taxed globally, but in a place like Qatar (no income tax), the FEIE is a big deal. For 2026 it’s around ~$130K, so that chunk of your income isn’t taxed by the US at all.

So if you’re making $250K in Qatar, only about ~$120K is actually taxable.

For example, if you made $250K in the US, you’re probably paying ~$60K–$70K in federal taxes. If that same $250K is in Qatar, you exclude ~$130K and only get taxed on the rest, so your tax bill might be more like ~$20K–$30K.

So you’re looking at roughly $30K–$40K in savings per year, and that’s before stuff like housing exclusion or tax equalization (which a lot of expat packages have there).

So yeah you still file taxes, but saying there’s no tax benefit working in Qatar isn’t really accurate.

@x3 stupid comment. The company does a theoretical tax calculation and takes what you would have paid in taxes out. Also US citizens are taxed even when working overseas.

@wz have you served? Have you been deployed? Has the commander in chief? Have any of his kids? That should be a REQUIREMENT before you put other people's lives in harms way.

@x0 The savings on income taxes in Doha is pretty nice…

Why would anyone go on expat assignment when the compensation is always dropping and the people who stay in Houston are the ones being promoted. And NEVER accept an assignment as a secondee. That is career su----e.

@wm ah yes another veteran who wants all the goodies but doesn’t want to actually go to war. So many “disabled veterans” with back injuries scamming the system. No property tax must be nice.

@vn @vn not at all, I’d much rather oil prices plummet and diplomacy prevail. I’d rather all the US troops that are there - or on their way there - be called back. I have a 23 yo son in the Army and he along with his Army friends (many who have become like my own kids) are scheduled to be deployed later this year.

I think we kicked a hornet’s nest and there’s no end in sight and the ramifications from this will last generations. It is terrifying for military families and for the innocents who are having their lives destroyed.

So yeah. What’s the stock price going to top out at? How far will the market drop? That is probably the ONLY lever that will influence when this “excursion” concludes. As for me: I’d be willing to give up all my XOM stock to make this end today.

Sick - people are dying and all you think about is the share price going up.

MAGA / GOP crowd, any concerns with the direction of this administration? Curious if perspectives have changed now that it's impacting ops / colleagues / markets / with more US troops on the way. Seems to me as a very middle-of-the-road-voter, we just kicked a hornets nest and this won't be over anytime soon.

For those who have not diversified stock and are sitting on a bundle of XOM, woot! Will be interesting to see how high it'll go. I'm thinking it'll clear $160 within a week.

After last night, we must be pulling out our secondees. There is no way with a straight face that em can say stay

@k6 I would never personally bring my dog on an expat assignment.

OP not all were evacuated. I know several people who were told to stay. Of course their families are evacuated. Very bad situation as the missile attacks continue constantly. As for secondees it varies by country and company with one big outlier as far as number of secondees left in country. Justification for leaving so many secondees in harms way is unclear. There can’t be much work going on with the Strait of Hormuz closed and daily missile attacks. The EPC contractors aren’t working and putting their people in harms way so why do secondees need to show up to site? All theater as they could be emailing and attending online meetings from anywhere.

Will be great when they PIP and give no or low raises to those who endured this!

I talked to a buddy who was part of the evacuation. He reached out to me asking about any open roles I knew of. He said he will refuse to go back as it isn’t worth it. Apparently they dropped the premium a year ago and even with all of these missile attacks last summer by Iran and then Israel and now this the premium is dropped. No such thing as hazard pay either. Said his kid and wife were terrified and refuse to go back. He showed me videos of missiles exploding right over his house. Apparently was happening constantly day and night for a week or more until they evacuated and still going in now. The government even evacuated nearby neighborhoods as the embassy was being targeted and is nearby. All very upset to have abandoned their dog and no help from the company to keep it alive with someone to feed it and give it water. In summary there is no reason to accept an expat assignment.

Talked to an employee who was there and evacuated. Really a bad situation and made me rethink if I would ever accept an expat assignment. The reward is not worth the risk. They have a color threat level system and seems like they are very hesitant to admit how bad things are and take the necessary action. Employees were expected to work on site at the LNG plant while missiles were falling in it. A packet was handed out to employees saying to shelter in an interior room with no windows when the missile attacks were happening but the company provided housing doesn’t have any interior rooms with no windows.

@k9 If EMQL employees can work remotely why not the rest of us? Sounds like they have made up jobs or are over staffed. They should be working in setting up a neighborhood for them in campus. There is plenty of room.

Company naively allowed many employees to go to exotic locations. Overly optimistic view that this would be just a couple of weeks. Watching with interest to see if they will allow all these people in exotic locations to now work remotely? Wouldn’t it be more effective to setup an EMQL neighborhood on campus and get everyone’s bits in a seat at EMHC?

You would think in a situation like this our VP and DW would have their planner compose a nice email and send to those who evacuated. Not a si glue word from any of them. No acknowledgment or thanks to employees. I think they are all fuming mad that they couldn’t just leave us there and demand we keep working.

Management has gone completely silent to evacuated employees. Not a word. No virtual town hall. Nothing.

@gw Company again provided zero support for pets. There wasn’t even time to have them put down so everyone is scrambling to find someone who stayed to give them water and food every day so they don’t starve to death. Company could arrange for someone to feed and water pets left behind at least since pets are all at the same compound. Would take very little effort to do this and would be inexpensive in Qatar and would mean a lot to people and take a huge burden off of peoples minds. If you have a pet do not go expat.

@gv “ Exxon provides 0 to minimal support for these situations, and all of the new HR policies are designed for you to be forced to carry all financial risks.” What support are you looking for and not receiving? You rented out your house and are making big money off of it while also not having money taken out of your paycheck each month as was done before the policy was changed. You want to keep your rental income profits and not comply with the policy? Sounds like you decided to take a risk that the company didn’t want you to take and now you are mad about it. Spend some of that money Lou have made off of renting out your house.Read the policy. It is crystal clear on what is expected.

@jb Please share specifics. The problem is not the LCM it is one particular project manager who has been in Qatar for too long and constantly behaves badly and mistreats his people.

@gv “ Evacuees are expected to be able to move back into existing accommodations at a drop of a hat.” Are you surprised by this? Doesn’t anyone read the policy anymore? This is why your paycheck isn’t having money taken out each month as was done under the old policy, so that you keep your house vacant. Did you rent out your house and are now whining about the policy?

@bp Business class after the 17 hour bus ride and the economy charter flight.

It was so visible that EM do not care when we saw how they treated us versus our Shell and Total colleagues. Don’t expect people to want to go back or if they do they will be with one eye out of the EM door. Apparent that our LCM does not care for us whatsoever. He is by far the worst LCM that we have ever had the misfortune to work for.

When they evac’d countries for COVID, we were told to put down our dogs and cats. WAEM!

Qatar secondees still working in the plant that’s being attacked.

Evacuees are expected to be able to move back into existing accommodations at a drop of a hat.

No help or care for families / kids ripped out of schools mid semester.

Going expat is no longer worth the financial risk unless you are without a family / dependents. Exxon provides 0 to minimal support for these situations, and all of the new HR policies are designed for you to be forced to carry all financial risks.

Business class travel back to the U.S., still on expat uplift, all good

Might even come into the campus