Toxic Work Environment with No Real Growth - Project Engineer ExxonMobil Employee Review

1.0
Aug 29, 2025
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Only salary is good. Work life balance is ok but subjective.

Cons

Work culture deterioration: The overall work environment has been on a severe decline, especially after changes at supervisory levels. Leadership often lacks objectivity, and team morale consistently suffers as a result. Poor treatment of experienced hires: The company does not provide meaningful opportunities for experienced hires. There is little to no structured plan to utilize external talent effectively, particularly on major capital projects where expertise should matter most. Limited career growth: Real growth is reserved only for those who engage in sycophancy or align politically with certain managers. Genuine performance and technical competence are often sidelined. Flawed performance management system: The notorious NI/NSI grading system is demotivating, inconsistent, and forces employees into a perpetual “prove yourself every year” cycle — akin to reapplying for your own job annually. This culture of constant fear creates unnecessary stress rather than driving true performance. Focus on presentation over substance: Decisions and career progression overly depend on how well you can impress with flashy PowerPoint slides rather than actual technical ability, execution, or project results. Lack of genuine innovation: Despite being an energy giant, the company resists innovation and avoids meaningful investments into cleaner, future-ready solutions. Employee suggestions are often ignored unless they fit management’s narrow agenda. Bureaucratic and hierarchical: Decision-making is painfully slow, bogged down by layers of approvals and politics. Good ideas are often lost in bureaucracy. Toxic internal competition: Colleagues are often pitted against one another due to ranking systems, fostering a hostile rather than collaborative work environment. Manipulative appraisal processes: Ratings are frequently subjective, manager-driven, and used as tools of control rather than fair measures of performance.

Explore other reviews about ExxonMobil

5.0
Mar 15, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great people and culture - Everyone is nice and wants to do good work.

Cons

Lots of security and locked down tech and hard to find what's available.

4.0
Jun 30, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Great all around compensation - from salary, benefits (401k & pension & flexible work], medical [fantastic] Great people - at the company you understand everyone around is came from being one of the smartest people at their previous job/university. Within IT the overwhelming majority of people really care for you, this feels way more collaborative than competitive. Career Development - lots of opportunities to grow in breadth of experience to get deep in your skills and grow in leadership skills

Cons

Work Politics - being such a large corporation with a lot of history there is a tendency to be work politics/red tape sheerly because of the size of the company. However, it is not really bad if you are willing network , put yourself out there to talk with leaders, and be a normal hard-working enjoyable employee. If you do these two things you will succeed at ExxonMobil.

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