Angst at Exxon as managers begin employee performance reviews
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HOUSTON/BENGALURU – Top U.S. oil producer Exxon Mobil Corp has kicked off a yearly performance review for U.S. staff, a process some workers dread because they view it this year as a prelude to stealth layoffs.
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The evaluations are expected to assign about 5% to 10% of the workforce to performance improvement plans that can lead to forced departures for those unable to achieve managers' goals, according to a person familiar with the process.
Exxon last year targeted 8% of U.S. employees as low performers – up from 3% historically.
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The assessments are expected to continue into July and have been a mainstay "for several years" and are "entirely unrelated to any workforce reduction plans," spokesperson Casey Norton said.
This year's reviews are expected to rank at least 5% of its U.S. research and engineering employees at the lowest performance tier, according to internal Exxon documents seen by Reuters.