Thread regarding Fidelity Investments layoffs

@3bf fidelity was ahead of it’s time and peers in technology when he was around. I think as he got older, the culture got taken over by his deputies. Plus there is the problem of managing what’s built. Every technology that’s built has to be eventually replaced. Fidelity is not good at this. Costs to manage legacy tech rose and technology becomes a big cost center that’s here to ‘keep lights on’ instead of providing a strategic edge over competitors. Without good leadership, this is a natural outcome in any organization. I don’t blame Ned - I blame the current ceo and her directs. I mostly blame Abby for valuing loyalty over competence in her extended leadership team. These loyalists are the ones that have ruined everything - playing it safe year after year so that their shares are far and healthy. The short term risk avoidance has lead to a long term rot and obsolescence.

Only bad thing I’ve heard said about Ned is that he didn’t value investing in tech, like people thought he should. I don’t hear positive things about Abby.

Fidelity of old was all about culture, teamwork, trust, respect and meritocracy. I am no longer at Fidelity but worked there for many decades. As a customer, I recently had occasion to go into the office and spoke to someone who has been there 20+ years…this person said they don’t even know people on their floor anymore. Reading through some of the posts on this website it appears Fidelity has lost its way and more importantly its identity. When tenured staff are dismissed for cheaper labor and/or senior management grasp at loosely defined strategies, arguably discriminatory practices, it is doomed for failure. In the Fidelity of old, you had long standing relationships with co-workers… all of us grateful to be working for a company that cared and was an awesome company to work for. I recall many times when outsiders were hired and were going to change Fidelity. These individuals failed routinely given Fidelity’s strong culture…certainly they contributed but they tended to conform to Fidelity’s culture in the end if they wanted any kind of tenure. Loyalty was quite strong in the past…this appears to be a current problem. Culture appears to be ba----dized and the leadership woefully incompetent. Find a company that has a strong culture and that is loyal to their employees. Find a company that believes in meritocracy and not all of the silliness Fidelity has adopted. Find a company where employees care about co-workers and have tenured history together that enables relationships. Many years ago it was very common to have family members, spouses, friends, etc. working together. HR appears to have played an unfortunate role in the company losing its way. Ned would have recognized this and most definitely would have made changes. Abby tends to follow the Harvard crowd/thinking. One would have hoped his greatness would have carried on. Anyway, hope this helps.

I feel maybe most successful start ups would have the qualities you’re looking for, depending on industry and product. Worked at 3 start ups before joining Fidelity; in marketing and fintech/edtech. Take with a grain of salt because I was never at Fidelity while under Ned.