I had two stints at BNY. My first time around, I worked 25 years. Got laid off shortly before COVID set in. Got hired back a couple years later and worked there for another 5 years in a WFH role. I was let go again about two months ago. Let's give a shout out to Jamie Dimon and his thoughts on WFH from JP Morgan Chase as he set the standard for the rest of the banks to follow. Thanks for nothing, Jamie.
I always got good reviews. Never called in sick. Worked OT when asked. Always put my best foot forward for the organization. I cared about what I did, in both stints with the company. I always took a lot of pride in my work and always accepted the consequences of my actions. I swore like a sailor, but I worked my a-s off for each and every person I worked for as I realized my performance was a reflection on them.
I had a lot of ups and a lot of downs working there. I made it as high as a VP. In my return role, I didn't want to deal with reviews and personnel issues. I just wanted to be an average Joe and enjoyed that role. People may not have accepted that after being laid off the first time around. Didn't bother me at all. I needed the work, and they offered me a job, and I was happy to take it. Especially being able to do it from the confines of my own house.
I can thank the company for a lot of things. I own my house. My salary was never exorbitant but as the years passed, I didn't live paycheck to paycheck. I managed my personal money wisely, choose a wise investment professional to handle it, and are now realizing the fruits of that decision. Never went heavily into debt. Never bought a second home. Been married to the same wonderful woman for 35 years. I have to thank BNY for a lot of what I accomplished, both with my career and with my own personal livelihood. Without BNY, it would have been a real struggle, so I have much to thank them for my success, though admittedly the success was derived from my own personal hard work.
When I was laid off in November, I went into a panic. But after analyzing everything, they probably did me a favor in letting me go. I knew eventually they'd let me go. Heck, they did it once before and it was just a matter of time that they would do it again. It didn't come as a shock or a surprise at all when it happened. Was I upset? Of course. However, I always knew the business didn't have any loyalty to me. They beg for you to WFH because a pandemic ki-led thousands of people. Once the pandemic was gone, senior management had to "reassert their control" and banish WFH people. Again, we can thank Mr. Dimon for instilling that mindset for the entire industry.
The managers that hired me back didn't want me to get laid off. I got a good review in the fall and recently got my Xmas gift card and five RSU shares in my Fidelity Account. So, contrary to what I read on this forum, the really bad stuff like that didn't happen to me. My former manager helped me with all that and got me the contacts to confirm it would happen. Always good to leave any business on a good note (more on that below).
The first part of my career, I didn't play politics and as a result, I was never moved into a more senior role. I was outspoken and critical of many things. Sometimes, I was wrong but most of the time, I was correct with my decisions. I wasn't perfect but people respected me. The second part of my career, I just tried to lay low in the weeds and I succeeded in doing that for five more years. As an old timer, I got lots of questions about things that happened in the past. I always had a good memory and did the best I could to problem solve issues. At a minimum, if I couldn't solve a problem, I always knew who I could ask if other old timers were still kicking around. Networking and just knowing things made me important in my second career.
When I look back, most of the poor decisions don't come from middle management. The poor decisions are those imposed by senior managers who pass down those decisions to middle management without opposition. The biggest problem with the organization is that too many outsiders, from different organizations (JP Morgan, Northern Trust, Goldman Sachs, etc.), are hired to make the important decisions. The business doesn't grow people from within, far from it. That aspect of the operation has been dead for a long time. That isn't good because the people making the key decisions have not the faintest idea about the culture, which is also now dead and needs to be rebuilt. Internal processes and systems are never phased out. Things have not gotten better because the senior managers are consistently turning over to new people, again brought in from the outside. Senior manager turnover is almost like changing your underwear on a daily basis. They come and go, constantly. Until that process comes to an end and the right people are put in charge, particularly insiders that know the business and are capable of making the right decisions, it will continue to be a painful uphill battle for BNY and its employees. If you like watching NFL Football, BNY is akin to the Kansas City Chiefs. They are old, hard to watch, and are falling apart. That's BNY. They might have Kelce and Swift as a side show, but that combination isn't doing anything to help the team win on the grid iron.
The senior managers reliance on fully utilizing offshore teams (Pune in particular) is also ki-ling the business. The people in India are good folks. But their mindset has never changed since their inception in the early 2000's. Most of them cannot make a decision unless a formal written procedure is staring them in the face. If confronted with a problem outside of the norm, you might as well break out a pen and start inscribing losses to the business as the consequences of their actions has been repeated, over and over again. When are they actually going to hire people that know what they are doing and understand the lingo of the business?
Finally, I just have one more thing to say about WFH. I did it for five years. Never took advantage of it. Worked my a-s off and did the best I could because it was a privilege to be doing it. However, the company is stupid in just throwing that aspect of the operation away. If you have a reliable work force that works outside of the four walls, you have many advantages.
You have a much wider spectrum of employees to choose from, not just the home offices and cities that currently exist. You can hire anyone across the country to do the work if they are properly trained or responsible like yours truly.
Having people work from home should save the business with expenses and increase profits. Why is the company renting space for people to work at? Paper? Electricity? Printing? All costs that are unnecessary. And, above all, time. Eliminating the commute is eliminating stress. Your employees are in a better state of mind. A happier work force will be much more productive. Somehow or another, none of this resonates with BNY senior management or for that matter, any of the other banks in the United States. This 20th Century logic needs to be put out to pasture. BNY is not thinking like a 21st Century entity, at all.
Hate to say it, but if people worked from home, you wouldn't have to pay them as much as people coming into the office. If you want to save money, make that a standard. You can use the excuse that you're not putting money into your car for upkeep or gas. I realize that probably won't sit well with people on this forum, but you have to take the good with the bad. If that's the alternative to coming into an office, I'm sure lots of people would do that.
Just want to say one final thing before I close this post. In my tenure at the bank, I was brought back to work a second time. I didn't make enemies when I left the first time around, and I didn't make enemies this last time around. To me, it's always important to leave on a good note. I would consider working there again, but doubtful that will happen as I don't live near any of the offices. I can say that I've been told my former work area is in a shambles, and it's likely to worsen over the coming months. My best wishes to everyone trudging their way through the mess...best of luck and happy holidays.