They are cutting 20% of headcount across the board to bring headcount down to around 200k. The goal is to get headcount down to 180k or less to be in line with JP Morgan after the 20% by outsourcing, automating etc. They are not waiting for covid to get resolved. Cuts will come as soon as July. They were originally suppose to happen in May, but got postpone to July. Godspeed. 50,000 teammates are going to lose their jobs during one of the worst economic downturns. Very few banks are hiring and will not be able to absorb these headcount reductions. On pins and needles
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15% of the cuts should be in the Human Resources / Employee Relations group. They are more at fault for the company’s downfall than anyone and are of no value with their fake investigations. Most lawsuits against the company are likely due to their corrupt conduct and failures.
The remaining 5% of the cuts should be the do nothing middle management.
Unclear on the scheduling and canceling PTO – is that only for those regions with no carryover balance allowed, so they hedge their bets, layoff or not?
@2nnt+15wxKgvL Thank you sharing what you feel you can.
So - the span and layers re-org/layoffs are on a separate track from the straight cost-cutting cutbacks, and will happen first?
And the goal now is 30% - not 20 as noted below? Do I have this right?
30% - wow I don’t want to be around for this. I would rather take PTO and get notified in an email.
I went through something like this at another company. I survived but what a heartbreaking day.
@2nnt+15wxKgvL you seem to have a lot of knowledge on this process. What are the eight layers that will remain? Also what will happen to the HR/ER personnel once they’ve completed their assignments will they be shown the door as well?
Meeting last week, 30% cut enterprise wide, In phases. Phase I September. This, in addition to various orgs pre-releases, in July blamed on Layers and Span. Have gone from 13 down to 8 layers and plan to go lower before the bankwide cuts start in September. schedule all but 40 hours PTO for 4th quarter, then immediately cancel all of the requests as soon as you're given your notice. This will get you paid should you leave by end of year. PTO paid in first check after notice. Cuts last Fall paid 2 weeks' pay for each year completed. Not prorated. Example, if you will have 10 years next week; but, get notice this week, you get 18 weeks' severance (2x9).
If you don’t think insolvency has anything to do with expenses then I have a bridge to sell you. Very good price.
From Investopedia:
What Is Insolvency?
Insolvency is a term for when an individual or organization can no longer meet its financial obligations to its lenders as debts become due. Before an insolvent company or person gets involved in insolvency proceedings, it will likely be involved in informal arrangements with creditors, such as setting up alternative payment arrangements. Insolvency can arise from poor cash management, a reduction in cash inflow, OR AN INCREASE IN EXPENSES.
Expenses are not reported on the balance sheet, financial accounting doesn’t work that way. Employees are not liabilities/creditors nor are they assets.
Most of the time insolvency is triggered by a run on deposits. Layoffs will never resolve an insolvency problem, and if one exists, the FDIC will intervene before its even public. High expenses really don’t mean anything when it comes to solvency. What matters is assets and liabilities, WF is very solvent or do you not look at the balance sheet?
You might want to take a course in financial accounting, I can’t possibly school you in an Internet forum. My financial accounting course was at least 20 hours of class time. But you’re welcome !
Salaries are an expense and can can contribute to insolvency, but thank for trying to school everyone. It's super appreciated.
Bank solvency has to do with assets and liabilities, it has utterly nothing to do with employee count and salaries do not fall into either category. Seriously folks, learn something, anything about how your own company operates.
Hoping and praying that knowledgeable posters are wrong or have the ability to change the strategy is fool hardy. Prepare yourself, it could be you and you have been warned.
Untrue – even before scandals, WF operating efficiency ratio was lackluster compared to competitors. Competitors invested in technology, which automated functions and eliminated the need for workers. WF did not invest in technology when it could and should have. Those paying attention to the figures have known this for a long time.
Those in ER know exactly the current percentage of layoffs (which will only increase in 2021) and you are incorrect about it being only 10%.
This forum is meant to help inform people of layoff activities. Denial won't shield you from the reality of what's coming.
A firm cutting 1/5 or 50,000 employees suggests solvency issues, and that is not something you want to convey to shareholders (or regulators). The other banks have better efficiency ratios largely because they bring in more revenue. A ten percent reduction (still 25000 employees roughly) cuts some of the fat, allows for the regulatory work to continue, have the asset cap lifted (at some point) and have the bank go back to bringing in revenue in line with its peers. It’s really not that difficult.
Scharf clearly said "significant" – 10% is not considered significant, even given our size. 15-20% is significant. 20% layoffs would finally get us within a more reasonable operating efficiency ratio (and in line with our competitors who've been running laps around us in profitability, technology, etc. – plus no scandals!)
Banking was already facing massive headwinds. Corrupt dinosaurs like Wells Fargo will die much faster – basic evolution.
So look around – 1 in 5 will be gone soon.
So for those of you involved, when should we expect the axe to start swinging?
20 percent is awfully high - that’s probably worse than HSBC and Deutsche bank. Even during the financial crisis banks stuck to the “usual” 10 percent
@hyz+15wxKgvL I bet those packages are looking real good 🙄
If company let that many people go into an already crippled US Economy that will cause a disaster for the country.
They know the country wont let them fail as they are too big and would cause major economic downturn for the country. What they will do is eliminate groups they don't plan to move forward with from a business standpoint, get rid of poor performers, and management duplication first. Other planned layoffs will be in 2021.
Previous poster 100% correct. I work in ER. We are burning the midnight oil preparing packages.
CA does 60 days also. The first 30 you are expected to keep working at finishing up projects and training your replacement if necessary. The second 30 is at your manager’s discretion. You may or may not be expected to work, but that time is ostensibly for you to use company resources to look for another position inside or outside of WF. You will turn in your equipment at the end of the 60 days.
Odd the firm gives you 60 day notice... during the financial crisis I knew lots of people who got laid off without any notice at all. But just a NY thing ?
Truly, plenty of people are in denial, even when the CEO straight up tells investors big layoffs are coming.
A WARN notice is posted the day of or day after you’re notified of the layoff. You get your 60 day notice and so does the state.
They said this a year ago when headcount was at 250k and here we are at 275k. Not a chance headcount goes anywhere close to 180k in the next 2 years.
So now I've heard both July and September.
I think bringing in new people mean higher salaries for same role. I am moving to new company and looking at a 37k pay increase doing same thing. Plus Wells pays lowest of any company on earth for same roles.
Would pay really good money to see who stays and who goes. My group in risk has more work than we know what to do with , but then again I know some Groups where people literally do nothing.
So layoff notices are Sept 1? is this for everyone or only TM's?
Not all teams got the survey.
Also, the WARN notice is going out Sept. 1 for Nov.1 layoff notices. 60-day period starts Nov. 1, which means TMs will exit effective Jan. 1, 2021. Wells Fargo's commitment to bo layoffs in 2020 will be met.
Revenue per employee is a key metric tracked by the industry....
WELLS FARGO $310,970
Citi $317,183
JPMC $ 424,181
BofA $390,254
Does it surprise you that Citi is also planning for large layoffs as well as WF????
Not debating the number of open jobs, but the company probably feels its easier to bring in new people matching the exact qualifications they want at a lower salary than trying to keep existing employees.
There isn’t 6000 open positions. More like 900.
if they are laying off, why do they have about 6k jobs posted? Remove those, move people into them and that should handle about 10% of the cuts they want.
Seems like a no brainer.
I haven’t seen warn notice out as of yet.. I believe they need to be sent 60 days prior ?
From a regulatory perspective there is a direct connection between size and the ability to manage the company and be compliant.
That is precisely what is meant by too big to fail.
In fact, regulators would like to see WF be much smaller maybe through additional asset sales. Fewer branches, fewer people, fewer platforms, and more process control and automation reduce risk significantly better than a fleet of compliance people filling out forms.
Believe this person’s post, this is going to happen and Washington is not going to stop it.
Look at this, executives cant make decisions:
May 2020 - no layoffs:
https://www.forbes.com/sites/jackkelly/2020/03/27/prominent-ceos-promise-that-they-will-not-layoff-workers-in-2020/#e65a1de9a61d
June 11, 2020 - substantial layoffs
https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/wells-fargo-signals-substantial-layoffs-ahead/5ZQ3LTTIKVFPVF3VJWFD7XGGBQ/
changed in 2 month timeframe due to executive plans failing, lets start with them
The chief risk officer sent out a survey yesterday to be completed by June 27 asking each department member to rate how much time we spend on certain tasks, meetings, etc.
What survey are you referring to? Which groups got the survey?
Exactly, and it is clear that senior management has no clue what people are doing and need to send out a generic survey that is useless. This is the cultural problem at Wells Fargo traditionally. Management is checked out while the employees fend for themselves.
It is really going to backfire in compliance with bigger issues , fines and consent orders. CEO and the Board are cutting their own throats, because they can’t wait 18 months to let compliance get the work done right. Greed supersedes doing the right thing. After the cuts, it will be even more chaotic, and stressful. SMEs will be lost. We know where the nuclear bombs are hidden, but who cares? It will be the CEO’s problem when they blow up. No one in management listens to us anyway. People are so stretched thin and are doing shotty work and making mistakes because there are not enough hours in the day to handle the workload. Also people are giving up and not giving 100% anymore because they are exhausted and realize it is only a matter of time before they get the pink slip anyway. I don’t want to be here in 2021 when testing and audit come in because the sh– is going to hit the fan.