Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

ExxonMobil Strategy: buybacks, cost reductions, virtue signaling.

If you are too busy concerned about your everyday concerns, such as your uncaring supervisor, your untrusting coworkers, the obnoxious hi-potential millennials that is bragging about its 30% raise, the neighborhoods, attrition, or the next performance review, you might find it liberating to pay attention to the big picture.

Everything that happens in your little private work universe is the result of a carefully crafted and executed strategy consisting in 2 pillars:

  1. make shareholders richer.
  • This is accomplished with aggressive share buybacks, defending the dividend at all costs, relentless reduction of structural costs, and developing to the last drop the few profitable legacy assets.
  1. virtue signaling.
  • This is accomplished by building a fake carbon storage organization while waiting for government regulation and carbon subsidies.

Don't get deceived by management rethoric of "energy transition", "place that have a long term career", "place to have fun", or by recent salary raises, which retroactive to 2019 are far below inflation and below competition for at least 85% of the employees.

The startegy is clear. You cannot change it. You can only understand it and accept it.

And if you find that you are not part of it, do something about it: find a new job where you, the employee, is a partner in the business and not a transactional commodity.

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| 1741 views | | 8 replies (last December 26, 2022) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1kii2Jrb

8 replies (most recent on top)

Rate of return on stock buy backs is exactly: gravy %. If you’re a major holder of company stock like those in the c-suite, it’s the quickest legal way to line your pockets.

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Post ID: @5gsd+1kii2Jrb

You could replace ExxonMobil with the name of any large company and this post would still be largely accurate. EM has a lot of unique problems but this isn’t one of them.

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Post ID: @3gvb+1kii2Jrb

I was at a large forum where a senior Dallas Exec gave a speech about EM plan including buybacks. During the break in the lobby the Exec was talking with a few of us. I asked what the rate of return was for buybacks compared to our hurdle rate for approving investment in a project. He looked irritated, said “You just do not understand” and walked away without giving any hint of an answer.

It would be nice to see someone on this forum define the rate of return for buybacks and if that rate of return was higher than the minimum rate of return for approval of a project.

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Post ID: @2dip+1kii2Jrb

Cost reductions sometimes cost.

I have seen monumental pressure to keep Operating expenses low that we lost more in production than saved.

I have seen stupid decisions made on Capex which end up with huge impacts to throughput and require more investment to remedy.

I really hate to see management blindly push cost reductions again and again, then forbid any analysis to find problems caused.

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Post ID: @1nma+1kii2Jrb

Very good question.

Someone please give us a detailed answer.

What is the rate of return of stock buybacks versus the rate of return of investment into a project?

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Post ID: @1vyp+1kii2Jrb

Our site has many projects with very high rate of return that are not getting done because Dallas will not invest in them.

What is the rate of return on stock buybacks? Especially stock buybacks always occurring during peak stock prices.

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Post ID: @hkc+1kii2Jrb

Here we go with this “virtue signaling” dog-whistle again.

You guys really need to get over this.

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Post ID: @vaf+1kii2Jrb

Thanks Darren. The strategy is clear. The execution is stupid. It’s a consultant-sold playbook from 10 years ago, overlayed with the old ExxonMobil idea that an OPEX dollar saved is better than $2 earned.

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Post ID: @bvq+1kii2Jrb

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