In mid-July 2025, employees at T. Rowe Price began to receive vague calendar invites titled “Business Update” with Zoom links. For many, this was the quiet prelude to a much louder outcome: a significant wave of layoffs that reportedly affected between 5% and 10% of the workforce across nearly every department, both in the U.S. and internationally. While no WARN notices were filed, insiders speculated this was due to careful headcount distribution to remain under reporting thresholds.
As news broke internally, the anonymous forum at TheLayoff.com lit up with real-time updates, confirmations, and frustration. Employees from Owings Mills to Hong Kong shared details, some having already been let go, others bracing for what felt inevitable. The severance details varied but were generally described as a lump sum equivalent to three months’ pay, plus outsourced job-search assistance. A few noted the severance seemed based on tenure – approximately two weeks per year of service – but capped, leaving long-timers feeling shortchanged.
What stood out most in the forum, beyond the hard numbers, was the tone. Bitterness. Sadness. Exhaustion. Many felt blindsided not just by the action, but by the impersonal delivery. Entire teams were called into virtual meetings and dismissed within minutes. Some learned about it from colleagues before receiving official word themselves. Several vented that they were training offshore replacements at Accenture before being cut. Others were told directly that if they didn’t help train those replacements, severance might be in jeopardy.
Discontent with leadership dominated the conversation. CEO Rob Sharps, in particular, was a lightning rod. Posters blasted his multi-million dollar compensation package, especially in the context of sustained fund outflows and what they described as strategic stagnation. Others pointed fingers at prior executives, saying years of missed opportunities in passive investment and ETFs had finally caught up with the firm. “Success bred complacency,” one poster wrote, “and now the firm is just bleeding.”
Adding fuel to the fire were references to the company's new $278 million headquarters and big-dollar sponsorships with the Orioles and Ravens. Many employees saw those decisions as tone-deaf – expensive branding moves in a time of austerity for rank-and-file staff. “The building is beautiful,” one user posted, “but the lights flicker, the elevators don’t work right, and half the offices are empty.”
Perhaps most haunting were the posts from long-time employees. People who had been with the company for 20 or 30 years, now suddenly faced with joblessness in their 50s or 60s. A few were nearing retirement. One mentioned losing coverage just months before their spouse’s expected surgery. “I’ve seen four rounds of layoffs in five years,” another wrote. “This one stings the most.”
Despite the emotional toll, the thread also revealed a kind of solidarity. People exchanged severance info, job-hunting tips, and resume resources. They reassured each other. They told stories – both about what the firm used to be, and what it had become.
As one person summed it up: “The layoffs might be over, but the trust is gone. When the market recovers, there’s going to be an exodus.”
And that, for now, is what we know.