employer cover photo
employer logo
employer logo

Occidental Petroleum

Is this your company?

Political Game Play Required - Anonymous employee Occidental Petroleum Employee Review

1.0
Mar 11, 2014
Anonymous employee
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

If you master the art of politics and can wait out the current management you will do well at Oxy

Cons

There is a top heavy 30+ year employee/manager base that with their intermingled life at Oxy make all of the decisions. They can and will destroy your career both within the company at beyond if you do not "play along".

Explore other reviews about Occidental Petroleum

5.0
Jul 11, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Peak benefits, amazing coworkers, giant organization/market altering company to be apart of

Cons

Chances of promotion might come from retirements

5.0
Apr 16, 2026
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

Compensation is solid for Houston energy: roughly $150K base plus ~$45K bonus/stock for DS-level roles, with a standout ~14% employer retirement contribution (7% 401k match + 7% company contribution). Benefits, PTO, and hybrid flexibility (M/F WFH, 9/80 schedule common) are consistently praised, and Texas has no state income tax. Overall comp & benefits rating is 4.2/5 company-wide on Glassdoor, and bonus upside scales with oil-cycle performance.

Cons

Base pay for ML/computational roles trails top-of-market (FAANG, quant, AI-first firms), and Houston DS employees specifically rated comp 1/5 on Glassdoor — suggesting pay compression or slow raises relative to market. Career progression is reportedly slow, with employees citing 12-year waits for promotion and salaries held toward the low end of the band. Bonus/LTI are tied to oil prices, so comp is cyclical, and recent layoffs tied to the OxyChem sale and debt-reduction push have made job security feel less certain than at integrated majors like XOM or CVX.

See reviews by: Helpful|Rating|Date|All