What on earth happened under the van der Veer leadership that has got Shell into its present mess?

guest1: Is it my imagination or does Wiseman start to look a bit more tired than usual?

Desi: Fully agree with MUSAINT...the performance is very poor; we are lucky to get some bonus. People who complain should look around.

MUSAINT: Do please excuse by poor spelling Itchy Woman but the point still remains you/team/Group clearly failed on targets. Be grateful to have a job, and no I did not get released but did work for Shell for 30 years with them. I do not always try and condone / agree with what is on this website either. I believe your minging in this present economic environment is poor. Consider those who hae lost jobs (not just with Shell). If you don't like Shell then just leave or is that not your real problem?

John Donovan: REPLY TO ANONYMOUS: Even Richard Wiseman, not known as our greatest fan, has acknowledged that we have acted responsibly on this matter. Related correspondence is still in progress. As will become apparent, Shell is trying to shut the stable door after the horse has bolted. The situation is already dangerously out of control. It is Shell that has acted in a cavalier way with other people's personal data, otherwise the Shell Address Book could not have been circulated to hostile parties, including Nigerian activists. So the situation is much more serious than you were aware. This news should ring alarm bells with Shell employees in Nigeria. More will be revealed when the current round of email correspondence has concluded.

Reply to Anonymous: John appears to have acted responsibly in alerting Shell and their employees to the availability of this sensitive data outside Shell. What more would you ask?

Anonymous: John, given your oft-expressed criticism of Shell's supposed lack of concern for safety and disregard for its legal responsibilities, can you explain why you chose to trumpet the theft of Shell's employee database on your website and even made facetious offers to pass it on to others? You must surely know that this information is a) stolen property and b) a potential threat to the privacy and safety of the thousands of people whose personal information it contains. If Shell had behaved in such a cavalier way with other people's personal data, you would no doubt have jumped all over them. So why the double standard? And since the database is stolen property, will you be returning it to Shell and will you provide information to the authorities to assist them in investigating the theft? After all, you can't expect Shell to respect the rule of law if you aren't prepared to do so yourself.

Witchy woman: Musaint It always shows lack of class when you have to resort to name calling, but I suppose that's your misogynistic upbringing. Once again you get the facts wrong, you should apply for a job in Shell, or as I suspect by your anger you were one of the ones released.

Outsider: A cynical view might be that Voser has deliberately used his first year to create an atmosphere of crisis within Shell to justify the lay-offs and salary cuts, and to "encourage" those remaining. Some 2010 costs will have been accrued and booked in 2009, while some 2009 income will have been deferred to 2010. This time next year Voser will be “the hero who turned Shell around..."

sandybeach: Just a comment on those that think we are being denied an extra 15% on our bonus due to Vosser's downgrade - your math is wrong. We dont actually get 15% less on the bonus as a whole - that factor is a multiplier.

notcomplaining: we are lucky to get a bonus at all. in fact, we should not be getting any bonus until we reach top 3 on tsr. so those who are moaning about the reduced bonus should shut up or move out.