Thread regarding Edward Jones layoffs

Money. Cheaper labor overseas will help ensure SM can afford her $8 milk and PP's husband can feel comfortable that he can drink $10k bottles of wine throughout his retirement (which according to a gossipy GP he has been enjoying for years; drinking and doing nothing but encouraging PP to make more $$)

It’s really textbook, I think. In executive brains, and according to the logic of capitalism in general, cheaper labor = higher profit margins. In a partnership like Ted allegedly envisioned, those profits might be distributed proportionately and justly. However, we haven’t had that kind of partnership for a while as evidenced by the massive gap between our lowest paid employees and our GPs and MPs.

Maximizing shareholder value and growth at all costs is the name of the game, whether the shareholders are the partners or the public. Never mind that we could probably ensure good lives for our clients and employees without this rabid pursuit of growth or profit.

@a4 100% this....In Operations the offshoring began in 2023 because I had to train my replacements too. It was a disorganized dumpster fire to say the least. A team of 10 replaced by 27 contractors in india who still do sloppy work and cut corners. While working 10 hr days. This is all about cheap labor and a quick money grab. Nobody got fired mon/tues because AI took their job like how the media reported this restructure. We have also been told that even though OPS has been wrecked with all the outsourcing and layoffs, MORE is coming in 2027. We are preparing for it this fall and I work in a high risk area. They will also push 5 days in office soon too in order to cause more people to quit.

Leadership has wised up to WFH, and most companies have realized that they simply don't need so many people.

@af, you sound angry. I imagine you being an associate who is required to be in office 5 days a week for the job you do. Perhaps your comment is just envy for others who are HBA or work out of state.

When associates work at home it provides more flexibility to start the day earlier as no commuting is involved. The associates can also work earlier and later in the day.

Pick your answer:
a. Cost cutting to improve financials
b. Preparing firm for sale
c. Outsourcing to cheaper labor markets
d. Leadership mismanagement and BAD strategic decisions
e. Pressure to modernize outdated systems and skills
f. Overreliance on expensive consultants
g. Shifting resources toward automation
h. Declining margins
i. Desire to please investors
j. Regulatory or compliance costs

@an from a source responsible for running the reports that send out to leadership on who is in compliance and who is not in compliance with the policy. I know they originally said it would just be top level tracking but they have begun alerting leaders and sending emails to those individuals not in compliance with the rules with their leader cc’d on.

@am I had read in the ER FAQ's that there would be no changes now, but they will re-evaluate in T2 so yes I know there could be an underlying message there. How do you know most are barely doing 2?

@aj outside of amplify they teased that no changes but they will re-evaluate come Jan 2026. They said the best way to hope it won’t change is to keep to the three days a week in office which is averaging to most barely doing 2 days.

MO MONEY. PP needs MOOORE…

@ah what did amplify state?

I honestly don't believe Penny knows what she is doing.

She is way over her head running the place. As I stated in other threads; the writing was on the wall 2 years ago when Citi stepped in.

I also believe way too much is being outsourced, and yes at a cheaper price.

I think our clients will start seeing this place go downhill and leave. WE are clients first. Won't be surprised when the ones that were let go take their portfolio and move it elsewhere.

The writing is also on the wall for 5 day work week. This was buried in Amplify in March of this year.

Should Trump put a 30 to 75 percent tariff on software costs paid to off shore India Companies? Should he put a tariff on software coded and imported into the USA ?

@ae How's that working out for ya now? Lots of changes. People are needed back to the office. Didn't age well

@a7 associates and leaders were working remote long before the pandemic, especially in the Service division. The pandemic just forced more people to work remotely but that was not new for Jones.

We need to review whatever public material for Penny there is 99% of the time cuts like this is to boost the bottom line to make Wall Street climax, but given EJ is private we will never truly know.

It's Econ 101. Cutting cost and increasing revenue coming from overseas. They will need your help to train new faces and new ideas in the works

@a7 this is a legitimate question, not being sarcastic. What skills are you referring to being relevant today to the outside world?

@a9 That doesn’t surprise me in the least. But she won’t even look her own associates in the eye. Absolute power corrupts absolutely.

@a3 2 years ago Penny had a section of Salesforce Service cloud to be sectioned off to be a Rolodex of all external contacts such as CEO friends of hers. She wanted to keep track of their numbers, addresses spouse and kids names. She essentially wanted a contact profile system for all of them to become buddy buddy with them all. Now I see why with your post; getting advice from outside the firm.

A lot traditional companies have had thr same fate. Before the pandemic, Edward Jones had not considered remote or hybrid work models. However, the pandemic made the company realize it can work. Everyone doesnt need to be in St. Louis. This realization also made them recognize it can be done at a cheaper cost as well. Unfortunately, many tenured employees haven't kept the skills up that are relevant to the outside world. How do you modernize the organization and technology with associates who have only seen this company?

This is all about offshoring. We just let go of several full departments. Contractors and associations. Our partner brought us together today to ask us to make sure we transition all of our work to Accenture. They didn't get rid of spans and layers or many directors or leadership. They removed associates so the work can be moved. There are hundreds of openings about to be open in India. I am so sad. We are no longer ONE Jones.

1) Penny is choosing bad leaders from outside the firm to run critical operations or capabilities. They are given free rein to be bad leaders for long periods of time. Usually they work remotely or travel extensively and aren’t around to actually engage with their teams. Key traits include arrogance - which is in direct contrast to the actual humble leaders that made the firm great.
2) Decision making is a key constraint. We can’t get work done because people can’t or won’t make a decision and work gets stalled or takes too long. (As other posters have said, we don’t allow imperfections or the opportunity to ‘fail fast’)
3) Consultants who don’t know or understand our business model gladly take the huge contracts and $$ to inject an opinion and are also given free rein to make decisions.
4) Penny and ELT don’t know or understand or care to know or understand the real issues that make the home office machine bog down.
5) Penny consults with CEO’s or peers at other major firms for advice on how to run the business and bifurcates her loyalty to the home office leaders and associates. Remember when she did ‘listening tours’ in her own house? Now she does it elsewhere.
6) Last and not least, when people raise issues or point out the flaws, or worse, try to illuminate the bad leaders - they are silenced, black-balled, put into insignificant roles or humiliated. So many tenured leaders have tried to save the firm and they were forcibly removed or so disenfranchised, they gave up and left the firm.

Money - $15 bucks an hour gets you a burger flipper. For a few bucks more you can get an Indian software developer.