Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

@ fyb+1616P5T2

Stroke Survivor and Thriving here. A quick follow up to a few of your points.

FMLA can be paid or unpaid for 12 weeks depending on the type of Leave of Absence. Birth/Maternity Leave, FMLA of 12 weeks with up to 12 Weeks Short Term Disability at 100% base salary. Maternity Leave would be considered Medical Leave. Same with having a stroke, having knee surgery, shoulder surgery, etc. You can find this information in the Team Member Handbook on Types of Leave and what is paid and unpaid.

How did I retire before 40? It was not by choice, it was out of medical necessity. I always opted for the Long Term Disability option during benefits enrollment. It’s a few dollars per pay period, but will replace your salary by 65% should you become disabled until your SSA determined retirement age. For me that age is 67. Again, refer to the Team Member Handbook. My worst fear was getting hit by a bus or taxi crossing the street, or falling down subway stairs in the winter. Little did I know I would have a stroke at 37 years young. We think we have forever, we think we’re invincible, but we’re not.

I was not in a Senior Manager position. I wasn’t even a manager. Honestly, I was a Non-Exempt worker with a base salary under $100k. Just an Individual Contributor. I was not bonus eligible in my career, I didn’t make big bucks. I’m not a trust fund baby. My parents were blue collar workers my whole life.

But I made life choices to not over extend myself years prior to my stroke. I have a small townhouse, a 2014 paid off Toyota. Other than a whole house HVAC and furnace system that went dead and needed to be replaced after my stroke, I had no credit card or student loans. The only debt I have is my mortgage. Sure I would love a new car, but it’s not a necessity. I made sure I could live off one paycheck per month, and save and invest the other paycheck most of my career. I’m fortunate, as I don’t have children or high overhead to support.

I watched family members, coworkers and friends over extend themselves over the years. Living off credit, leasing fancy cars/trucks/boats, buying a house way too big, buying a vacation home or condo on the beach, financing their kid’s college or private school, shopping for the latest trends or newest gadgets. The list goes on. I also watched how they lost it all. Thru job loss, divorce or a life changing event.

There’s absolutely nothing wrong with wanting nice things or having nice things. But those things cost money and require money to maintain. I still eat out every day, well take out or delivery during this pandemic. I still buy new clothes and shoes if I have a purpose for them. After having a stroke, some fashionable items and trends don’t work out when you can’t button or fasten. Try getting a bathing suit on with the use of one arm. It’ was a struggle. I still go on 3-4 vacations a year, not 5 star luxury resorts in Tahiti or Bora Bora, but nice getaways here and there. If I want to go on the lake, I rent a boat with friends and he hire a captain.

I never thought I would be totally and permanently disabled at age 37. It took over 3 years to receive SS Disability. There is a backlog of people disabled. A friend of the family died while waiting for SS Disability. His approval letter arrived the day after he died of a massive heart attack. I’m fortunate to now have Medicare. There was a gap in my insurance coverage for 6 months because WF only allows Medical Leaves and Benefits of up to 2 years Maximum. Benefits that you pay directly to HR out of pocket.

I can’t touch my 401k, Cash Balance Plan or IRAs. Even though I’m disabled, I’m under the age of 59 1/2 so I can’t touch them without being taxed heavily with penalties and early withdrawal fees.

Apologies for the long winded response, but I figured you needed some background on my experience. It might help you and others make an informed decision before opting for surgery, or even before severance packages begin rolling out.

I wish you all the best. I know each of us has worked in a pressure cooker environment regardless of the business unit at WF. These are times of uncertainty, and we need to support each other with our knowledge and experiences.

You can’t put a price on your health. Put yourself first.

If you can hold on until 63 1/2 then retire you can pay for Cobra for 18 months. If you have a HSA put as much as you can in the account and then use that to pay for Cobra insurance. That is what I did and it worked out just fine. Good luck to you.

WF absolutely can get rid of seniors with ease, no matter how talented. WF is thrilled they can now do that as part of mass layoffs.

No age discrimination when you're laid off with 50K-100K others, in fact it's inevitable.

The pandemic had a huge silver lining for WF – it can be used as the excuse for massive layoffs, instead of the truth, which is numerous scandals/corruption (no big news in media reporting, since many companies are displacing employees).

Plus, they conveniently moved all the hidden, shell game losses into the recent earnings report and can act like they are being transparent. It was a golden opportunity.

Devious, dishonest, unethical behavior will not end here. Everyone is so busy worrying about the pandemic, economy, upcoming election, etc., WF found the sweet spot to stuff in everything now.

This is who we work for. Not much to be proud of these days, other than our individual work ethic.

Best to learn what you can and move on.

@qfo+1616P5T2 You are incredible and I'm so heartened to hear the changes you've made in your life. Bravo!!!

I'm where you are (health suffering), but not in as senior a role or as well off (saved the max on every front for past 15 years), but senior in age.

How you were able to retire at 40 makes me wonder... you must have had a very high salary, incredible investments, and/or other income. Most don't.

I agree WF is not worth it. We are all mercenaries. WF does not care about its employees.

Quick note re: disability insurance... my understanding is that only FLMA (family leave) keeps you off the chopping block, unpaid, until the moment you return (when you are immediately at risk again). Disability offers NO protection re: your job. So there's no way out, other than to die or resign. WF could care less which route you go.

Jobs are not plentiful, even for those who've upskilled. They don't grow on trees, especially during a pandemic.

I'm grateful I don't have super long tenure at WF because it's toxic on the resume.

My prayers go out to everyone affected by the greed and corruption of those who are sitting pretty financially, many with golden parachutes and with no negative repercussions to their lives.

We'll all get through this one way or another.

You should just retire. Honestly, I think most of the seniors in the firm don’t have the skills that the firm truly needs now. They were precious in old days but they stopped learning.

When Bank of America did this kind of job cutting, close to 10 years ago now, it was really hard to work there for many years, especially if you were on a project executing cuts to make those expense goals.

But, bonus cuts didn’t happen during that time, but salary increases were intermittent and moving internally to a new role was nearly impossible. Benefits didn’t get better, especially if you made more than the magic number of 100,000, but didn’t get worse.

This won’t be a popular statement, but the regulators know that WF has deep seated cultural problems, I doubt there will be repercussions for cutting people in particular in age groups who have been there a long time. There is a view, like it or not, that the company needs fresh faces. That’s why really no insiders are going into high level roles.

I think that cuts will go on a rolling basis for probably 18-24 months, after that it will take 2-3 years for things to feel some what normal. It’s going to be very turbulent for a while. You can look at the JPM and BAC sections, they are cutting now and were profitable.

@OP

Congratulations as well for 19 years!

Not sure what your overall personal finances (WF 401k, WF Cash Balance Plan, personal Traditional/Roth IRA’s, personal savings, spouse finances, etc.) are and if you’re able to file for early retirement with WF or SSA at 62 and continue to live comfortably in your current situation. Did you have plans to downsize or upsize your home? Any kids in college or need assistance with college or transitioning between college and first job?

If you have any medical issues especially surgeries that you have been putting off, I would suggest getting them done now while you have medical coverage. Knees, shoulders, wrists, back, etc. You will be entitled to 26 weeks at 100% full base salary and full benefits while on Short Term Disability.

Being on STD could help pause your displacement package or date by 6-12-26 weeks. I would suggest if that shoulder or knee is bothering you, take care of it now during this layoff climate.

Ask yourself if you still want to work in the industry or in your designated field. Maybe you want to pursue a that hobby full time, paid or not. What is best for your finances and most important your health.

In 2017 I had a stroke while working at WF. 17 years in, working remotely in EIT from Sunday’s thru Saturday’s about 70+ hours a week. My teams were scattered internationally around EMEA, India and APAC.

After my stroke and recovery I realized I can’t work like this. The stress literally almost k–led me. Lack of sleep, interrupted sleep, poor diet or no diet, just surviving on coffee all day. I was 98 pounds when I arrived at the Emergency Room.

I was under 40 when this happened. My cardiologist and several specialists said I wouldn’t make it another 2 years if I continued on this path. No job is worth dying for, especially not Wells Fargo. Words from my doctors.

So I retooled my life after my stroke and physical therapy, occupational therapy (how to hold a pen, open doors, etc) and speech therapy.

I refinanced my house for a much smaller house payment, got my finances in order and made sure I was debt free. I now enjoy my time traveling the world and taking road trips across the US (pre-pandemic), gardening and doing design work to help seniors and people with disabilities retrofit their homes to adapt. It brings me great joy and I am at peace.

Please don’t wait until you have had a stroke to make the right decision about your future. Take care of you first. The work environment and climate at WF was extremely toxic and very stressful before the account scandal and multiple scandals that followed. I can only imagine how stressful and how tight the pressure is now, especially with phased layoffs across all LOBs/Business Units.

I can tell from your post that you care about your team, and I’m sure you’re a great manager and leader. Set them up for success before you leave and before they are possibly displaced.

Wishing you the best in your future endeavors. Take care of yourself!

Hello poster! Thanks for your services to WF. You and many others have helped keep WF going for all these years. It was briefly the world’s most valuable bank too. But that was in the past. Today’s Wells Fargo is a bit like another iconic American giant, GE.

At 61, you are neither too old and certainly not young. Wells cannot fire you easily: you are in an age-protected category, and you have tenure. But they can certainly diminish your role by bundling you under another less experienced manager hoping that you’ll retire eventually.

While I feel sorry for you, I think the bank did not take good care of you of late and you may or may not have upskilled yourself timely to be valuable in another role or company. My best advice for you is to stay put and see this to the end. You may get a package that is better than you jumping abruptly without a safety net .

@OP - Congratulations for a long standing career. If you can afford to retire early this can be a blessing in disguise. If you can’t then you may need to retool/upskill yourself. After 19 years in, It’s very likely that the skills you have been learning at WF are obsolete and not useful on many other places who has been using more modern processes and technologies.