Exxon campus looks gorgeous (Houston: childcare, child care, station)

[Dopo]

Keep in mind that with the Grand Parkway, Tomball and Cypress are gonna be short drive away from this campus

[westhou]

Originally Posted by Dopo

Keep in mind that with the Grand Parkway, Tomball and Cypress are gonna be short drive away from this campus

Sarcasm?

Tomball to Springwoods ok. But Cypress to Springwoods will be a long commute. Cypress and The Woodlands are rapidly growing in population and the Grand Parkway will fill up with traffic just like Beltway 8 has filled up with traffic between Jersey Village and Greenspoint. That entire northwest region is exploding with master planned communities that will make the Grand Parkway a nightmare during rush hour.

[KerrTown]

Originally Posted by OducksFTW!

Anyway, I believe that moving to this campus was a mistake. The company is now pushing more of their own employees that arent living in the immediate area to drive even further. Skewing the average commute time exponentially.

Having their office downtown has so many more benefits. But Exxon is a business and did what was most economical and positively affect their bottom line. Downtown/Heights/East Downtown/Uptown are all going through a renaissance of sorts and unfortunately for Exxon employees, they must either commute further or miss out. One thing I do know about real estate, Location,location,location. Although that rule seems to be more moot in Houston than many other cities.

I bet that Exxon will experience negative turnover from many employees who live in Katy/West Houston due to the commute issue. Hopefully their Geographer did not overlook or forget to tell them this in his report/presentation.

But one thing is for sure, the Downtown Exxon employees are going to miss the tunnel food and the lively tunnel life during the daily lunch break. Getting lunch in the new HQ means getting back in your car and risk losing a parking space coming back.

[MDinTelfair]

Exactly right. Many of my colleagues live in West U, South Hampton, Afton Oaks, and a few in River Oaks. Primarily because of the location to the Medical Center. But like you mentioned, not a single one sends their kids public schools in the area. The advantage of the burbs are you have, for the most part, really good public schools. It not that I can't afford to live in West U or send my kids to Private school, but I think the public school in many of the burbs, like Sugar Land, Katy, Memorial, Friendswood, etc. are really good. Plus the burbs have a more conservative bend which I prefer.

I don't think Exxon will have any issues hiring people to work for them, or finding enough experienced hires in key technical fields. My cousin interviewed at both Exxon and Shell last year for a position in the Petroleum Engineering Discipline, and ended up taking the Exxon offer. It is definitely a good time to be an experienced Engineer, Geologist, or Geophysicist with 10+ years O&G experience.

Originally Posted by DejaBlue

Not so. Some can afford the city easily but can't afford to send their kids to a private school because regardless of all the "down to earth" people who live in the city 70% still send their kids to every private school they can throw money at rather than send them to the HISD zoned school and don't want to deal with the magnet lotto. After elementary school it gets dicey. I mean really the only wealthy to decent upper people who send their kids to the zoned schools live in West U.

City live is a compromise up front on something. Usually schools. It's I love that house but you know you'll be knocking on Kincaid's doors or St John or wherever or trying to bribe or whatever to win big on the magnet lotto.


I just met a family who live in Katy who can easily live in the city and the mom loves the city life but Katy ISD is better she said for what her special needs son needs so they choose suburbs.

[Dopo]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

I bet that Exxon will experience negative turnover from many employees who live in Katy/West Houston due to the commute issue. Hopefully their Geographer did not overlook or forget to tell them this in his report/presentation.

But one thing is for sure, the Downtown Exxon employees are going to miss the tunnel food and the lively tunnel life during the daily lunch break. Getting lunch in the new HQ means getting back in your car and risk losing a parking space coming back.

Good luck driving on Rayford-Sawdust traffic during lunch hour.
At least they'll have Rudy's and other places just South of there

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Originally Posted by KerrTown

I bet that Exxon will experience negative turnover from many employees who live in Katy/West Houston due to the commute issue. Hopefully their Geographer did not overlook or forget to tell them this in his report/presentation.

But one thing is for sure, the Downtown Exxon employees are going to miss the tunnel food and the lively tunnel life during the daily lunch break. Getting lunch in the new HQ means getting back in your car and risk losing a parking space coming back.

There's going to be so many services available on that campus people aren't going to be driving anywhere for lunch unless they really want to. A tunnel with a shopping mall style food court isn't going to draw away from a brand new, well laid out campus.

[dejamiller]

I was thinking that too. Isn't this campus self contained, meaning in addition to work, they are going to provide childcare etc... So unless you just really want to leave campus to eat, there won't be a need to.

[TheMoreYouKnow]

Originally Posted by dejamiller

I was thinking that too. Isn't this campus self contained, meaning in addition to work, they are going to provide childcare etc... So unless you just really want to leave campus to eat, there won't be a need to.

Exactly, not only will there be just about any kind of service anyone would ever need or want (food, dry cleaners, daycare, etc etc ) but there's going to be so many small businesses popping up around there or expanding just to cater to that campus so any kind of food that isn't on the campus will be just a delivery call away. There's even going to be a small Exxon branded gas station on the campus itself with a carwash.

[DejaBlue]

Originally Posted by MDinTelfair

Exactly right. Many of my colleagues live in West U, South Hampton, Afton Oaks, and a few in River Oaks. Primarily because of the location to the Medical Center. But like you mentioned, not a single one sends their kids public schools in the area. The advantage of the burbs are you have, for the most part, really good public schools. It not that I can't afford to live in West U or send my kids to Private school, but I think the public school in many of the burbs, like Sugar Land, Katy, Memorial, Friendswood, etc. are really good. Plus the burbs have a more conservative bend which I prefer.

I don't think Exxon will have any issues hiring people to work for them, or finding enough experienced hires in key technical fields. My cousin interviewed at both Exxon and Shell last year for a position in the Petroleum Engineering Discipline, and ended up taking the Exxon offer. It is definitely a good time to be an experienced Engineer, Geologist, or Geophysicist with 10+ years O&G experience.

Exactly. I'm not saying the suburbs are perfect by any means but you're 8/10 more likely to get everything you could possibly want. Space? Check. Pool? Check? Good/great schools so you're not shelling out extra money? Check. That money you save for those 2 kids is a investment in a vacation rental. Rich people like to be cheap too. Anyone regardless of income who can save a good chunk of money on something doesn't mind.

[bizkitgto]

Originally Posted by OducksFTW!

The vibe from Exxon that I've gotten from former employees, and current people industry is that it is a very cut throat, no frills company. They pay the most out of most any other companies out there period. But their militiristic style with an expectation of total commitment from their employees is what has made many people that I've talked to turn down Exxon. I have a few coworkers who got offers from them, broke down the hourly pay and realized Exxon come out on top by only cents. They opted for the work-life balance. Although having Exxon on your resume gives you a big leg-up getting into any other company O&G and beyond.(My frame of reference is with the engineering/technical field)

Exxon is known for its militaristic, top-down command style and has made the company incredibly successful over the years. However, the other majors are better employers. Exxon controls your destiny (career path) wheras at Shell or Chevron you can create your own career path and apply internally for jobs and most likely get what you want. They all pay very good. Interesting how Exxon is moving to the burbs and Chevron is creating their campus downtown.