txaggie_08 said:
XOM going through their layoffs today. Are they getting any kind of package?
Heard COP sent out their WARN Letter today, so should see 500+ layoffs on or after February 1.
Anything else going on?
I have several friends at Exxon. Their severance offer was way below market compared to what other super majors have been offering. I think they got fewer weeks of severance than the length I was told Chevron kept people on payroll prior to paying out severance. Also, I guess due to XOM's pension structure, anyone within a few years of retirement eligibility couldn't be laid off and either couldn't be included in a voluntary separation program or were offered such a small amount of severance that it would make no sense to take the offer unless they were going to retire this year anyway. I believe near retirement eligible employees are also excluded for their performance improvement process. They are essentially untouchable for their final few years of employment.
Pretty much every other supermajor was able to make a decent voluntary separation offer and most everyone who was going to retire within 1-3 years anyway took the money and ran (also because the lump sum pension conversion calc is really favorable when interest rates are low.)
Exxon couldn't cut anyone near retirement and it seems from what I've been told they also didn't really allow for time to place people who were strong performers but in a highly impacted group. So low performers in groups not hit as hard by layoffs were kept and high performers in groups hit hard (like their global projects org) were cut. Terrible process but they had to rush to take all of the severance expense hit in FY20 so they could throw it in with the loss from the write down and keep FY21 clean with a reduced cost structure. My neighbor is a upper/mid level mgmt at Exxon and said basically the realization that they would have to take a write down this quarter accelerated the timing of the layoffs...otherwise they were planning to properly build and fill out a new org by end of 1Q21 or 2Q21.
So Exxon couldn't cut people nearing retirement anyway (even if they wanted to leave) and didn't allow time to build an org and place the best people in the most appropriate positions because mgmt wanted to take all the one time losses in the same quarter. They just wacked at workgroups based on mgmt estimation of the fewest possibly people needed to get work done and, if you were currently in a role in an unlucky workgroup, you probably lost your job. Very few people were evaluated to be moved to another role if their position was eliminated. The rationale for that was they already did their performance based cuts and this was strictly RIF based on lower workload.
Really sucks for those involved.
