Thread regarding ExxonMobil Corp. layoffs

@yh lol, you tell me 30% body fat. You the one with them nice tiggo bitties

@v8 how was the sauna? You boys have fun?

@p9 they want low cost, high performance. Not high cost, high cholesterol.

They want adaptability, then rewards certainty. They want challenge, then punishes disagreement. The candidate gets re-evaluated, but the environment rarely does. Survival is not easy

@p9 they look good though... That's what matters these days.

@n8 hey body beautiful, do you keep in great shape for the folks at your local sauna?

@c1 bro, you should start working out. You fat af. Too many cookies and donuts at the office coffee bar. People like you keeping the insurance premium high for the rest of us.

@c1 that's a great analogy. Next step removing the duplicated organs - who needs two kidneys? Lungs, he-l you can do fine with one! One eye?

@bk Similar situation of a healthy body around 30% body fat, my doctor says that's fine. That "extra" isn't useless, it provides reserves, cushioning, absorbs toxins and maintains connective tissue holding everything together. Companies have organizational fat and connective tissue too: cross-functional relationships, institutional knowledge, mentoring, networking, and the people who naturally connect groups that don't normally talk to each other. You can cut all of that and look incredibly lean on paper. But eventually there's no cushion and no connective tissue left. Every problem becomes an emergency, every bump hurts, and things that should work together start pulling apart. Congratulations. The company hit its target weight. Now it's injured all the time and major organs are full of toxins.

@OP This is what happens when an organization can no longer distinguish between genuine value and the appearance of value.

If it’s a prison then each of us holds the key and could walk out at any time. Just takes guts and the ability to separate the desire for material goods from the need for mental health. Your job/career should not be your identity, your home and car and material goods are not your identity.
You stay by your own choice and therefore suffer by your own hand.

I don’t disagree ExxonMobil has particular problems, but you need to realize that virtually all companies are suffering ever since Covid.

During Covid consultants gathered lots of benchmarking data that you can make a 20 or 30% cut and your revenue doesn’t go down.

This was then repeated other companies further strengthening the argument.

This also created a dynamic where if you weren’t cutting then to the investors you were out of the game

Fast forward six years and you find yourself in this situation. Unsustainable in my opinion.

@be depends on what industry you’re talking about. At least higher pay tech industry is probably worse

I interact with peers in other industries quite frequently, and I've worked at a variety of other comparable companies. It's not "the modern corporate office" - it's ExxonMobil. A company that used consultants to develop their "on paper" culture, but where the real culture is fear. And yes, I'm counting down the days and looking externally.

OP is right. It seems like every conversation eventually ends up being a discussion of how unhappy people are and how they can’t wait to retire or quit. Management has broken the culture.

Not prison, adult daycare