Exxon says it has no plans for layoffs. Former employees and documents leaked to Business Insider tell a more complicated story.
This morning, we reported that Exxon — which had 75,000 employees at the end of last year — made a change to its internal performance review system that exposes a large portion of its US workforce to job cuts.
The company expanded the minimum number of employees that must be classified as "Needs Significant Improvement," or NSI, in the annual review cycle.
Some of those employees are forced to resign. Others have the option to enroll in a performance improvement plan.
Current and former employees said that Exxon is obscuring layoffs in performance-based cuts.
Are you a current or former Exxon employee? You can reach me at bjones@businessinsider.com or through the secure messaging up, Signal, at 646-768-1657.
What Exxon said: "We do not have a target to reduce headcount through our talent management process. Employees who need significant improvement (NSI) are given a plan and opportunities to improve their performance."
Exxon is among seven top oil companies commonly referred to as "majors" that are reporting earnings in the coming days. It's expected to be brutal.
What analysts are saying: "The vast, vast majority of companies are still in survival mode," Valentina Kretzschmar, an analyst at Wood Mackenzie, said. "Second-quarter results are going to be very, very ugly."
Analysts expect all companies that have yet to report — including Exxon, Chevron, BP, Shell, Eni, and Total — to report large losses.
Related news: Schlumberger, the world's largest oil field services company, said it would cut 21,000 workers. OFS companies are among the hardest hit when oil prices crash.
Yes, Tesla does, in fact, sell more than just beloved electric cars. In fact, SolarCity, the solar installer it acquired in 2016, was once the largest residential installer — by far.
In 2015, SolarCity controlled more than a third of the market for residential solar, according to the research firm Wood Mackenzie.
The second-largest company at the time had just 11% of the market.
Tesla has the cheapest solar offering in the US, according to CEO Elon Musk, which analysts at Wood Mackenzie confirmed.
Still, installations reached an all-time low this quarter. The company cited the coronavirus pandemic, which caused permit offices to close.
And what about the solar roof? We still, somehow, don't know much about it. Wood Mackenzie says the company only installed about 100 roofs in California, the largest solar market, in the first quarter of 2020.
And check out this story by Ben Winck about why billionaire Chamath Palihapitiya thinks Tesla's EV business will give way to a bigger focus on renewable energy down the … road.
Solar power could become cheaper and more efficient thanks to a new method that creates electricity from invisible light. Aaron Holmes has the story.
That's it! Have a great weekend.
- Benji
Ps. Only one plant in my low-effort garden is thriving — and it's the one I didn't plant. This pumpkin-and-or-watermelon sprung up from the compost I used to nourish the plants I paid for, and quickly strangled them.
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