Alright, lots of DW bashing, maybe deserved. Everyone thinks they can do better than everyone else. We all seem to be know-it-all’s, So what’s next? Who is next? The company isn’t going anywhere. Too many assets, the full transition is several cycles away. Who will lead us? I’ve been locked in for nearly 12 years so I’m not leaving. I deal with constant BS that make me less efficient, but also get paid pretty well compared to most other things out there. If we need that leader to bring us back, who is it and what do they need to do? FFS.
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My pay was great before retiring several years ago at 65 yo. I was rotating (month on / month off) toping out at $328k per year not counting matching or benefits. Having only to work 6 months per year allowed me to work the family business (non O&G) on days off which added even more $ to my savings. I did this for the better part of 30 years becoming financially independent while building a savings account that has turned into a significant money tree based a yield alone. So yes, the pay was good for me and my family. Plus, the work (EMDC Drilling) was really good. I worked in over 20 countries. What’s not to like; I had a blast :). I was never more than a first level EM engineering op sup working the ‘coal face’.
“…get paid pretty well compared to most other things out there...”
Compared to what, exactly?
I’ll be the first to admit that the pay at XOM and O&G in general is good considering the amount of work that is actually performed. When you drop this from consideration, differentiate for marketable skills/education level, and compare the pay to other growing industries that are attracting high levels of investment, the pay at XOM and O&G is average (at best).
Soon the only ones left will be those unemployable elsewhere (which is most individuals at CL28 and above) and the NRE’s that are being told what a POS they are, but are protected by the fear of a lawsuit, and a few “high flyers” that don’t realize if their sponsor loses their sponsor, all the dominos will fall. Literally everyone else is actively leaving or actively looking to leave. Posts like this remind one of the Leslie Nielsen meme where he’s saying nothing to worry about while everything behind him is burning down.
The situation is not only bad in IT. It’s bad and even worse across all departments and business lines.
"also get paid pretty well compared to most other things out there"
Hah man I wonder how much longer XOM folks are going to keep thinking this is true.
Dont get me wrong, if you're 15 years in and you have no transferable skills, yeah this is as good as it gets. Ride the train while you can and save your money because you're going to have a hard time breaking 80k outside of exxon. Most of our Chiefs are basically unemployable.
But an engineer with good coding, analytics, optimization, or supply chain skills could probably get a raise if they left.
Which is why they are all leaving. And they are leaving in droves. And getting raises.
You don’t get paid pretty well, did you know other companies actually pay bonuses? Not only to the execs?
@mfd+1cs7EpTu bql here, I’m IT and enjoy watching the train wreck, but am genuinely curious if it’s really that bad elsewhere. Sounds like you don’t know, or don’t have anything useful to add, so carry on.
I am retired but enjoy coming to this forum.
@bql+1cs7EpTu If you don’t believe the situation is as bad as it is try asking yourself why do you bother coming to this forum and spending time trying to convince people otherwise on a sunny Sunday. That’s all I have to say to you.
@czn+1cs7EpTu curious what sort of key people in which functions? The only truly bad attrition I’ve seen is IT, whose employees are on average both more angry at EM overall, and have more/better career options outside.
Upstream at least is trying to shed assets. Only few keys areas left and honestly some assets are already worked in KL and BTC. EM may survive but will be noticeably smaller and need way less people than have today. I think the person to lead us forward is someone from the outside.
@OP+1cs7EpTu You seem to have same charecteristics as DW, are you eyeing to take him over?
Elizabeth Holmes
The leader is Jesus Christ since only a miracle
can save us now. Do you honestly believe Exxon is unbreakable? This company is doomed to failure. I heard even managers now don’t feel there’s hope anymore. They are losing key people and have no replacement across all teams. Wait until the next pandemics or whatever happens and let’s talk again ;)