process operator

engineer

account specialist

analyst

operator

LyondellBasell

The good is the people.  In most cases, everyone works as a team and everyone works for the best outcome.  
The middle is the work environment.  This company runs lean, and you just need to know that upfront.  Running lean is great in that you have a perceived sense of job security.  This same security makes it hard to leave.  If you want to make an internal move, management may not support your decision because they may not easily be able to fill your job.  They may ask you nicely to stay or forcefully, but it is a reality.  Also, you may feel bad for leaving due to the good I mentioned above.  In addition, because there is usually only “one” of a particular job; you’ll have to wait until that one person leaves to get a chance at that opportunity.  Management really wants you to do the job you have; so, it feels counter cultural to step outside of your “bubble” to look for and explore other opportunities.  
The bad and area where most improvement is needed is how people are treated.  LYB has a performance evaluation process where your performance is rated every year.  In these systems it is critical that you receive timely feedback so you can make adjustments in how you work to have a successful evaluation.  Out of my past 3 roles only 1 manager provided regular feedback.  Even with their feedback, my evaluation status didn’t always reflect the feedback.  Your evaluation could be the only meeting you have with your manager – that’s once a year.  For me, the lack of feedback on my performance has made the evaluation process meaningless.  For me, I work at my best and sometimes that means a great evaluation; sometimes not.  Another system we have encourages you to plan your career and put it in your employee profile.  The idea is that managers and HR regularly utilize our profiles to help us progress in our careers.  For 7 years I have updated my profile and for 7 years no manager or HR person has used it to help me progress.  
LYB is a company ran by engineers and as an engineer I like that.  This allows engineers to pursue opportunities outside of the traditional engineer positions.  The engineers that have successfully been able to excel, grow and cross over to business functions, etc. are mostly male and white.  In manufacturing most of the leadership is white male.  Most of the females in leadership are white as well.  Representation, at all levels in manufacturing, for people of color is low.  The company is now working on DEI.  


My day as a shift supervisor would start at either 5am or 5pm. You would review the last shift(s) log book and operating units documentation. You are the site contact for employees and contractors with questions or issues:  R&D units, building systems, security, deliveries, and utilities.  The operations ran 24/7 so unattended units required monitoring and possible adjustments. In the case of a power loss facility operations equipment may need to be reset, along with some operating units.  If repairs were needed you would contact the proper authority to make them. You were the “go to guy” and were expected to get it done. Job Safety Analysis and safe work permit authorizations occurred daily. You also authorized Confined Space permits and served on the rescue team. Any emergency at the facility, I would respond and assume Incident Command. I was in charge of the fire brigade and Emergency Management Team and conducted training as required, as well as procedure and policy changes. I attended weekly meetings to determine the most efficient use of our shop resources. I was also included in audits and incident investigations. Attending safety meetings we were educated on the latest safety and injury trends. As problems arose, on site or within the company, you were informed about them and what corrective actions were taken. The incident investigation findings were published for all to see and learn from. The management team was fair and expectations were communicated. I enjoyed my coworkers, many of which I still communicate with. Each employee was willing to help another with an issue with advice or equipment. The hardest part of the job for me was the rare occurrence of poor communication. I pride myself on getting the job done correctly and safely and need to know the requirements and details of the task. The most enjoyable part of the job was the satisfaction of helping others with resolving an issue that was as safety or operational concern. I enjoyed learning new things everyday and keeping an open mind on how to do things more efficiently and putting that into practice.

I'll start by saying that the LYB was great when I was first employed two years ago. Then things went downhill starting last year. There was the horrible executive decision to move their longtime Houston headquarters from Downtown to the Galleria which many people were pretty upset about (people actually got other jobs because of it). Why change something that has worked so well for so many years? And now that the economy is in a bit of a recession, the company has had to take drastic measures to save money, including laying off many employees which I believe they never really had to do in the past since the company operates fairly lean for its size. This just shows that current leadership is incompetent and has poor decision-making skills. They clearly did not practice organizational resiliency to prepare for economical situations like this so now the employees are suffering for it. If you're going to talk about focusing on cost savings, don't spend millions on moving to a new building they we don't need in an area where rent is super expensive. But there's other things too, not just that.
Moreover, the overall culture seems to have shifted for the worse. When I first started, it genuinely seemed people-focused. Now it's becoming more rigid, less flexible and as if leadership is trying to keep the employees in the dark about a lot of things. It's like the company is losing the values they held before. And I don't want to hear the excuse that they are becoming this way because of the pressure of the current economic downturn because LYB performed extremely well 2 years ago. So becoming more rigid won't fix anything. I wouldn't be surprised if they make more headcount cuts in the near future as well as cutting any development programs they have, considering the stock price hasn't been improving. I never thought I'd see an organization go so south so fast. Honestly, all of this has made me question if I'll ever work for them again in the future.

The work differs day to day. Nobody is ever sure what they will be working on or with each day. Most of the work is operation, manual labor (mostly packaging and stacking up to 55lbs bags), forklift driving, and paperwork.
There are many different processes and procedures to be learned. It may take years to learn enough to get raises which are based on skill since you are moved around so much. There are no classes for said skills, just leaning as needed.
There is quite a bit of exposure to many different dusty products that may cause cancer, infertility, and lung disease. Exposure to polymer dusts, additives containing silica, and skin irritating powders is common. There is PPE available but it is usually too hot or the labor is to physical for said PPE. There is almost no leaving clean.
If any positions open up or become available, management will not let current employees fill those positions. They will only hire externally weather it's moving up or side to side. Some supervisors let operators make calls on what others will be working on. They will also make one person do the same hard or messy task every day just so that they don't hear the bad coworker complain about doing said task.
The pay isn't worth it until you move up a few levels. You do get prorated 2 weeks of vacation and sick days when you first start. The benefits and health care are great.


I have been with the company for over 20 years, operating as ARCOChemical Company, then Lyondell Chemical Company, and now LyondellBasell Industries. The site at which I work was once the world headquarters with over 1,000 employees here, but as the company changed names and ownership, the headquarters moved and only Research and Development remained here (less than 200 people). And now, they are constructing a new R&D center in Houston, TX, and closing this one, so I found myself with a choice: relocate my family or find a new job.
The people I work with are among the best-in-class. We all watch eachothers' backs and help out when and where we can. I will miss nearly everyone I've ever worked closely with, and I keep in touch with many that have gone before me. During our Chapter 11 era, we all learned to cope with doing more with less, and I found that to be a learning opportunity for skills outside my typical day-to-day responsibilities.
The compensation targets the 75th percentile of the industry and region. Annual bonus is tied to personal and departmental achievement of goals and safety record. Insurance options are excellent, and premiums and deductibles are reasonable.
I would recommend working for this company, but cautiously keep an ear to the ground for changes that come about quickly.

1 - During a typical work day I will visit assigned units to speak with ops and read unit log book to see what has developed over the past 24 hours. Perform inspections as needed; assist NDT crew on unit(s) as needed; write and review reports, etc.
2 - During work continuation (due to strike) I was assigned to work in the oil movements department as a pumper. During that time I learned the important of proper pipe alignments in order to move product to the correct location without contamination.
3 - Overall, it appears that management is really trying to make a change to improve to quality of life and culture during work hours within the Houston refinery. Upper management will visit, set down and listen.
4 - In an effort to improve the quality of inspection and reduce unscheduled down time I will visit and exchange views and ideals with several of my co-workers to get their view point.
5 - Lyondellbasell has loads of Engineering Guides and Engineering Standards. Learning them and keeping up with the updates is perhaps my greatest challenge.
6 - I really enjoy performing inspecting, training young inspectors and sharing knowledge with others in the field and by Microsoft Power Point presentation.

In general the company has strong financial legs to stand on, so its a place to feel secure when other companies are continually downsizing.  Great opportunities to move around within the company as long as your supervisor likes you and your work.  Lots of great people to work with.  Good pay and benefits.  Executive Leadership is constantly changing.  Report something to HR and you will be retaliated against, so best to keep your mouth closed and head down and accept things as they are.  The Ethics policy says one thing, but their actions say another and because of that there is an under tow of mistrust within the employee pool towards management, not many happy people work there.  Tons of meetings with little time during the day to do your work and a lot of long hours.  One admin is expected to support entire departments (30 people+) and EA's can support up to 4 or more making it difficult to learn anything new or be completely invested in the company to help move it forward.  Everyone is always paddling as fast as they can to keep their heads above water.  High stress environment.

•	Managed,Created, Modified and Deleted Group Policy Objects within Group Policy Manger.
•	Provided 24X7 3rd Level technical security support for over 3300 end users.
•	Facilitated the authorship and maintenance of security technology configurations and standards.
•	Created system-level security architecture and design which included definition of technical security controls (e.g., access control, authentication, encryption, deterrence measure, etc) and definition of non-technical security controls (e.g., process and procedure) necessary to achieve the security requirements and remediate audit finding.
•	Executed a cost/benefit analysis for various security design elements. This enabled the business owner to evaluate various cost/benefit trade-offs.
•	Tested detailed security configuration to ensure it complies with technical standards and met system performance and production load requirements.
•	Served as support for a very active security operations system.
•	Tools Utilized: (Active Directory, McAfee ePO Orhestrator 8.8, Microsoft Forefront, Windows 2003, 2008R2,AS400).
•	Assigned, created, modifed and deleted hard token assignments with RSA console.
•	Monitored Remedy Queue for 2nd and 3rd Level end user problems.

Since the change in plant management, the work environment has noticeably shifted — and not for the better. The new plant manager has demonstrated little understanding of the actual day-to-day operations or the challenges that come with them. Unfortunately, there seems to be a lack of willingness to listen or learn from those who have been on the ground and know the job inside and out.

Her management style leaves no room for growth or employee input. It’s clear that she believes her way is the only way, even when it’s obvious her decisions aren’t rooted in experience or practicality. If she were asked to run a full plant tour on her own, it’s unlikely she could confidently or accurately explain how everything functions. That speaks volumes about the disconnect between leadership and operations.

On the other hand, the workers here are some of the most hardworking, knowledgeable, and dependable people you could ask for. They’re the ones keeping this place running smoothly day in and day out — despite being underappreciated and overlooked. It’s frustrating to see their efforts minimized by someone who doesn’t contribute meaningfully to the actual workflow.

Overall, the team is strong — the leadership, unfortunately, is not.

If you have a College education do not waste your time or future here, this place is like an organized criminal organization. they just want to see what they can get out of you, after they do so they will kick you down the road, and they will use your education and knowledge to maintain themselves their family, and friends in power. There is no future here if you are not their friends or family. if you have a Trade Education go to the Union hall, you will get a better salary and benefits when they say "Complete other tasks as assigned by the Maintenance Supervisor " which means whatever money the company has set for ground keeping, plant cleaning, or whatever maintenance of the plant not related to engineering, management will put into their pockets and they will expect you to go and clean up offices, mop bathrooms, clean toilets cut the lawns whatever they ask you to do for them to keep the money allocated for that in their pockets. Go to the Union hall if you have an education or training. you will get a decent salary and decent treatment and you won't be wasting your time, with these organized criminals.

Top Job Titles	Average Salary
Process operator 6 salaries reported	$46.33 per hour
Engineer 5 salaries reported	$114,800 per year
Account specialist 3 salaries reported	$72,833 per year
Analyst 5 salaries reported	$92,000 per year
Operator 4 salaries reported	$50.75 per hour

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