Arjan's Story
Working in the Fossil Fuel Industry
I joined Shell in 2018 through NewMotion, an e-mobility scale-up acquired by Shell the year before. After seven years at McKinsey—including writing one of the firm’s first pieces on electric trucks—I was eager to work on the energy transition from the inside. NewMotion felt like the right bridge: purpose-driven, innovative, yet connected to a global player that could scale impact. I had also worked at a Shell fuel station as a student, and was a big fan of Schumacher and Shell-sponsored Ferrari, so I felt a loyalty to Shell.
At NewMotion, I supported the CEO and helped prepare board materials, watching how electric mobility grew from a niche acquisition into a strategic pillar. Later, as a global account manager in Shell Fleet Solutions, I worked across e-mobility, renewable diesel, bio-LNG and early hydrogen pilots.
Only in November 2022, I became aware about the true urgency of climate change, when I finally took the time to study climate science. Based on the recommendation from a McKinsey partner I rated highly, I bought Greta Thunberg’s The Climate Book. It was a shock. I felt grief for the world my daughter Anna would grow up in, and shame that I hadn’t truly understood earlier.
This triggered a shift. I wrote a long article on LinkedIn that went viral. It led to conversations with leaders, to me chairing the Dutch “Future Energy Leaders at Shell” (the grassroots green community), and to asking a question live to the new CEO, Wael Sawan, during his first global webcast with >20.000 employees dialed-in. What surprised me most were the overwhelming amount of supportive messages, from all over the world. The desire for change inside Shell was far bigger than most people realized.
From that moment on, I tried to make maximum impact internally—organising learning sessions, inviting external thinkers, gathering employee feedback, and co-launching a global Sustainability Award watched by half the company. But the tension between Shell’s valuation challenge and low-return transition investments was always present.
When I Realised It Was Time to Leave
I had long believed in change from within. However, when my own department faced a reorganization, and my team was reduced from 5 to 2 roles, I would need to change my work from spending 80% on transition earlier, to spending 80% on selling diesel going forward. This wasn’t what I signed up for, when I joined Shell group in the emobility division.
At the same time, the internal strategy signaled that acceleration was unlikely in the near term. I explored alternative roles but found none that met my criteria for impact. Meanwhile, employee dissatisfaction—reported publicly by Bloomberg—showed I wasn’t alone in feeling misaligned.
I was already in touch with green employees at major Dutch corporates, and I felt a growing calling: What if internal changemakers across companies could unite? That gave me the courage to leave.
What are you doing today?
In September 2025, I co-founded Employees for our Future, a climate movement for the “silent majority” of professionals who want more urgency—but who aren’t necessarily activists. We aim to create safe spaces within companies, accelerate a social tipping point, and encourage organizations to champion truth and responsibility in public. With my co-founders still working at big corporates like ING Bank, ABN Amro bank, NN (an insurer) and TNO, we are truly a movement FOR and BY employees.
We now have 1,500 followers and support from leaders like Paul Polman. I hope to continue full-time, if philanthropic funding allows. My corporate background, transition expertise, and positive tone help me reach groups that traditional NGOs struggle to engage.
And yes—I hope to work with Shell again one day. But only after substantial change. The people are fantastic; the system needs to catch up.
Reflections
I hope international oil companies choose to be forces for good rather than managing decline. Many employees want to be proud of their work. Whether they can will be determined by today’s decisions.
For anyone considering leaving: understand climate science, understand your company’s true trajectory, and understand where you can make the most impact—inside or outside. Prestige and salary matter far less than whether you can look your children in the eye in twenty years.