Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

You think you are the main character? Why will the mp help you? Only the wp spoke up about the layoff but no debate thereafter. Use skillfuture to upskill bro

6 November 2025
NOTICE PAPER NO. 219 OF 2025 FOR THE SITTING ON 6 NOVEMBER 2025
QUESTION NO. 789 FOR OR-L ANSWER

MP: Mr Dennis Tan Lip Fong

To ask the Minister for Manpower (a) whether the Government projects further layoffs in the petrochemical industries following the announcement by a US energy company of its plans to retrench up to 500 staff in Singapore by end-2027; and (b) if so, whether the Government is extending support to these companies or to affected workers directly in the transition to a low-carbon future.

Answer:

1. The member may be referring to ExxonMobil’s restructuring announcement on 1 Oct 2025, where the company said that it would be retrenching up to 500 workers in Singapore by end-2027.

2. The Energy and Chemicals (E&C) sector is a global industry, and Singapore is subject to global developments in demand and supply. With any mature industry in transition, we also expect to see some churn as companies transform their operations. However, there will be opportunities for reinvestment and renewal. For example, as we transition to a low-carbon future, there will be new job opportunities for locals in growth areas such as specialty chemicals and bio-chemicals. Since 2021, there were over 30 new specialty chemical projects across manufacturing and R&D from global companies such as Arkema, Cariflex and Kuraray. When fully realised, these investments are expected to create more than 1,000 jobs, across roles in manufacturing operations, R&D and innovation, process engineering, sustainability, and corporate functions.

3. Should retrenchments occur, the Government’s priority is to support affected workers with employment facilitation. The Taskforce for Responsible Retrenchment and Employment Facilitation, comprising representatives from MOM, WSG, NTUC, NTUC’s e2i, EDB, and ESG, proactively reaches out to retrenching companies once notified of a retrenchment. For ExxonMobil, the Taskforce has offered career matching services and referrals to career switch programmes if workers wish to move into other growth areas. These include the Career Conversion Programmes and Mid-Career Pathways Programme. We understand that ExxonMobil has also proactively engaged the ExxonMobil Singapore Employees’ Union and is committed to working closely with them to support affected workers throughout the restructuring process.

4. The SkillsFuture Jobseeker Support scheme will also provide temporary financial support of up to $6,000 over six months to eligible retrenched individuals to support them in finding a job that makes better use of their skills and experience. The Government will continue to work closely with companies to support workers in the transition to a low-carbon future.

my mp happen to be tan see leng, minister of manpower. is it time for me to go mps? but he busy with suing bloomberg. which ministry that gave Exxon lots of tax incentives, was it mti? but oil crisis now the country is dependent on Exxon. we the workers, who can help us

finally HR becomes a profit center

hearsay someone got punched? anyone can share the story

The irony, just imagine we lose people and end up not being able to run the plant. How to still produce refined products to Australia? Wanbao needs to know this scoop

The reason for this is also because HR needs a big item for PDS. Probably this was a 10 years plan but forced to be more aggressive because the boss says they need to do more

lol someone interviews today, get asked the stupid qn where do they see themself in 5 years? only correct answer is pip out

@91r7 I think now NI will have mandatory PIP too if I understand the email correctly. For people who are less than 5 years in the company, NI is part of MLRP.

If I'm wrong, please correct me

@91r6 nsi
HR should give the folks retrenched a mercy call and allow them to opt to leave earlier. i can’t believe we’re retrenched, told we’d get a package, then being made to wait around to get pip, fail pip, then lose our package. or those who already got pip once, to immediately get pil, sacked and lose package.

What the farking actual fark

Option to PIP is at NI or NSI?

Sell us lah sell us to Saudis or Indo.. the retail people who got sold are so lucky. Those who left with package in 1Q also so lucky

Sgcx shiok. Where's the hr who acted like buddies with us, like wlls or g*ry? Guess we are their stepping stones for their OWD

@91fq You can thank your HR department. They probably hit their 2 years KPI by doing this.

what a complete di-k move by exxon. first they layoff 30% of the office workers, giving notice between 4 months and 2 years, and indicate it's not certain. then put the layoff people through 1 or 2 PA cycles, and if they MRLP for 2 cycles they lose their retrenchment benefit of 1 month for every year worked (max of 2 years' pay for long service people). instead they get a pathetic 3-month PIL and mandatory separation.

why are the retrenched people even made to go through performance assessment and PIP? what is there to improve if we already told we'd be retrenched? this is euphemistically called "employee development cycle", but what the f do we need developing?

folks, we need to complain to MOM en mass. this is nasty.

Many of us who just got the retrenchment notice for 3Q or 4Q this year, or next year, also had 1 PIP in the last 4 years. We are now quite worried whether we will get a second one this year, and lose our package. Because which supervisor will put the people they kept in PIP instead of us.
This company is a complete shithole

2 PIP in 5 years kena fired?
Please lor 1 PIP is enough reason for people to leave, u think 4 years cfm no PIP?

@9149 ???

Wait till Q1 earnings announcement.

don't worry, still in good shape and numbers, continue to monitor

ExxonMobil expects to cut about 500 Singapore staff by end-2027

Updated Oct 01, 2025, 07:04 PM

SINGAPORE – ExxonMobil expects to cut its staff number in Singapore by 10 per cent to 15 per cent by the end of 2027 as part of global restructuring efforts.

The US energy giant declined to reveal a firm number. It has about 3,500 employees in Singapore, so the impending cuts could affect around 500 workers.

ExxonMobil also said on Oct 1 that it plans to move its Singapore office from downtown to the site of its Jurong plant by the end of 2027.

This comes after the company on Sept 30 said it will lay off 2,000 workers globally, mainly in Canada and across the European Union, as part of a long-term restructuring plan that will affect about 3 per cent to 4 per cent of its workforce. There are no planned job cuts in the US, reported Bloomberg.

In response to The Straits Times’ queries, Exxon Singapore said: “We are making changes to how we work so we can improve our competitiveness in an ever-evolving landscape and position the business for future success.

“While detailed planning is still under way and organisational design is not yet complete, we anticipate this will result in estimated employee redundancies of 10 per cent to 15 per cent by year-end 2027.”

The company added that it will continue to maintain its manufacturing presence in Singapore.

ExxonMobil began production at a new plant on Jurong Island in September to convert heavy residue that is left after refining of crude oil into higher-value lubricant base stocks and lower-sulphur fuels.

It runs two refining sites in Singapore, one in Pioneer Road on the mainland and the other on Jurong Island, with a combined crude processing capacity of 592,000 barrels per day.

ExxonMobil also plans to move employees based at its HarbourFront offices to the Jurong Refinery in Pioneer Road.

“As part of this change, we intend to exit our HarbourFront offices over the next few years,” the company said.

“We’ve seen the value of bringing people together in the same location. These changes are designed to improve our competitiveness, increase effectiveness and drive innovation.”

Responding to queries from The Straits Times, a spokesperson for the Economic Development Board (EDB) said the board, Workforce Singapore and job-matching platform e2i “will continue to work closely with ExxonMobil to support affected employees, including facilitating job placements”.

“ExxonMobil will continue to maintain a significant business footprint here, including in manufacturing, headquarter and trading functions,” EDB said.

Chevron, ConocoPhillips and BP are among major oil companies to have also announced retrenchments in recent months in response to falling crude prices in 2025 as the Opec+ group of oil producers have boosted output.

ExxonMobil, however, has been on a major internal restructuring push since 2019 as chief executive officer Darren Woods seeks to simplify the company’s sprawling global footprint that came as a result of the merger with Mobil two decades ago.

The changes have helped ExxonMobil cut US$13.5 billion (S$17.4 billion) in annual costs since 2019, according to the company. It plans to increase this figure by 30 per cent until the end of the decade, reported Bloomberg.

ExxonMobil employed 61,000 people globally at the end of 2024, nearly 20 per cent fewer than in 2019, according to the company’s annual filings.

https://www.straitstimes.com/business/companies-markets/exxon-expects-to-cut-singapore-staff-by-10-to-15-by-end-2027

The Singapore site needs to go through another round of PIP/NSI's in 2026 and 2027.

what's the latest news? no 1 sharing anything?

@8z3e Why?

Never ever call the national care

SGCX no hope already, the new LCM is not here to bring it out of its current state but to progress with the next phase

I hope one of the changes the new LCM/management will bring across is reduction of people being promoted cos they are part of WINS/ONES/some other committee when they have absolutely no competence in their new role/appointment.

SGCX need competent people to bring us out of our stumble now... Not how nice you are or how many "powerful" friends you have or whom you taken photo/have corridor conversation with.... It is truly disappointing to see the selection criteria still so sh---y despite we have lesser role.

No worries la, still got studies and visitors coming. Sgcx safe

Sadly, many of the people posting here appear to be former employees who went through the PIP process. I wish you peace and the best moving forward. I’m sorry things didn’t work out for you. As for us, we’ll be just fine.

Ready to change uniform, hope they layoff many useless sls

many places have non-local LCMs. It just means that SG is fading away as a key site for the company, and we have seen this transition for years now. plus, a sale to saudi armco (or someone else, chandra astri?) is possible

@8x6q

Go back to India!

Some Singaporeans are so self-entitled that they think "they have so many management candidates here". The truth is, your US masters think you are trash and should be disposed after wiping their shittyyy asssss, regardless of your level and job titles. These Singaporeans do not have independent personalities. Still living in dreams when their masters dump them.

Very weird, but interesting.

Ironic to see a non local LCM incoming. I always thought we have many management career path people, why is it that none of that can fill the role? Could sg be monitored or controlled even further? Stay tune for more illogical announcement

good luck to the fellas going to aster, hope you guys find greater joy there

@8wx0 ya same, cause we have reserve, companies like Aster and PCS do not have reserve, hence, declare force majeure. We will definitely survive it. Hope our sales team can jack up the price in the asia region

I hearsay that we have enough raw materials to sustain, not sure if this is true.

@8wsh good riddance

Copilot Search

No Purchase of ExxonMobil’s Singapore Refinery by Saudi Aramco
Saudi Aramco has not announced any plan to purchase ExxonMobil’s Singapore refinery. The recent December 2025 news from Aramco Singapore concerns a Venture Framework Agreement (VFA) signed with ExxonMobil and Samref (Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc.) to evaluate a major upgrade of the Samref refinery in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, along with expanding it into an integrated petrochemical complex Aramco Singapore+1.

What the agreement covers
Location: Samref refinery, Yanbu, Saudi Arabia (not Singapore).

Scope: Capital investment to upgrade the refinery, improve energy efficiency, reduce emissions, and diversify production into high-value chemicals.

Ownership: Samref is an equally owned joint venture between Aramco and Mobil Yanbu Refining Company Inc., a wholly owned subsidiary of ExxonMobil Aramco Singapore+1.

Status: The agreement is a framework for evaluation; a preliminary front-end engineering and design phase will begin, but final investment decisions are subject to market conditions, regulatory approvals, and mutual agreement between Aramco and ExxonMobil Aramco Singapore+1.

Why it’s not about Singapore
ExxonMobil’s Singapore refinery is a separate asset, and there is no mention in the official announcements of any sale, purchase, or restructuring involving it. The December 2025 Aramco news is focused entirely on the Yanbu/Samref project in Saudi Arabia.

In summary: Saudi Aramco is not buying ExxonMobil’s Singapore refinery. Instead, Aramco and ExxonMobil are collaborating on a major upgrade and expansion of the Samref refinery in Yanbu, Saudi Arabia, as part of a long-term strategic partnership Aramco Singapore+1.

https://singapore.aramco.com/en/news-media/news/2025/samref-refinery-upgrade

saudi aramco got no PIP what. and those who move to chandra astri with retail sale will escape the PIP soon. and of course, the ones who are retrenched will be free from this nightmare soon.

only people who will be face this PIP are perhaps the office roles who stay in hbf that are not sold to anyone.

Winter is coming, embrace yourself!!!
LCM is retiring, VP got impacted.
Transformations are on the way.
What else?