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Occidental Petroleum

Is this your company?

Long term commitment to get anywhere with this company. - IT Consultant Occidental Petroleum Employee Review

2.0
Jul 31, 2014
Recommend
CEO approval
Business Outlook

Pros

6% matching 401k. Separate retirement account that amounts to about $2500 a year. Higher than average bonus (10-15%; higher if you are one of the "chosen" ones).

Cons

Don't let them fool you with their slightly better than average benefits package. They are WAY low on base salary. I know this because I left and got over a 20% raise. It would have taken me between 4 and 5 years more at Oxy to get that type of raise. I'm not the only one. I know of many people who feel the same way. Average raises, year by year, are around 3%. When you start at 50 or 60k, it will take you a very long time to catch up to where you should be. The politicking here is crazy. Employees WILL stab you in the back - it happened to me by more than one person. Not only that, but to get anywhere you MUST "do what you're told". If you don't brown nose it's very hard to get anywhere. Managers have their favorites. Oh, and don't get on the "blacklist." If you do you're virtually out of the running to be manager or basically anything other than "IT drone." I can't tell you how many people got their MBA's paid for by Oxy then had to leave because they would not promote them. One last thing I want to mention. There is little explanation on why some people get certain benefits and others don't. This includes "project bonuses" as well as extra Stock incentive. They never fully explain, if they even mention these things to you which they probably won't, how you get them. If you don't know about these things then the don't have to give them to you, right?

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.

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