I can attest to the layoffs. I worked for many years in the Commercial Distribution Finance division that Wells Fargo bought from GE just over 4 years ago and received my notice of layoff yesterday. From what I have heard it is just the beginning.
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Everyone I know that was laid off Tuesday are way under 50.
Laying off over 50yo is an obvious trend.
And trends like this should be looked at (age, gender, race, etc)
Based on OP severance package sounds like they are also in the >50 range.
- Regarding being here for 20-30 years and in same job. There is no problem with this if you are excellent at what you do, enjoy what you do, and don’t want to manage people. Managers pray for employees like this. It is these employees who often run the show while managers are in 24/7 meetings. And we will do whatever we can to find ways to reward them, though there are limitations.
- Back when I was not a manager. I remember a somewhat “full-of-himself” young man starting in the department I worked in at the time. He was very outspoken about he’s “giving the firm 2 years to make him an officer or a manager or he’s moving on!” He was sometimes disrespectful to the experienced older employees, thought some of the work was beneath him etc. Well guess what. He is still in the same department and not an officer or a manager 20 years later. HE is now the older experienced employee complaining about newer overly-confident employees. He has matured and is a good contributor and is being paid quite well.
No, I don’t. I do believe that if you have a project with someone de facto performing the work of a principal or architect, the work should be recognized with an accurate title. If Senior Engineer is as high as 99% of tech employees can get, then don’t be surprised if they leave or take management jobs, but don’t blame the ones who stay for not moving up when there is no “up”. I’m not that impressed with how the tech titles ended up getting recalibrated in my division either, but that is another matter.
Divisions should have principals, not each team. We have three support teams and seven dev teams for our division. You can’t believe that we should add 10 principal engineers, do you? If each division has a principal, or two maybe, the argument remains. Just because you check the boxes doesn’t mean you get promoted automatically. There has to be a slot and a need for the position.
I think that the fact that you think most teams don’t need a principal engineer as an indicator that you have spent too much of your career at the bank. You need one person who understands how everything fits together, who knows where the bodies are buried, and who can speak to the business partners. You need one person who is up to date on current tech. So far, departments are either just limping along or they promote someone to a manager role who doesn’t actually manage.
Sure you have a path, but what if your team has no need for that next level? You will still need to apply and find another team that needs the spot you want, and the higher you go the fewer of those positions will exist. They aren’t going to just promote people to a higher level just because they complete a checklist to get to the next level. If they did it would only be a matter of time before they had all senior software engineers. Currently you can become a principal engineer, but how many teams have one or need one?
There was some talk this year of recalibrating the job families so that the tech people had a promotion path that didn’t require managing people. This has needed to happen for a while. We have some very sharp people doing “the same job” because there’s nowhere to get promoted to if they want to keep solving technical problems.
@2lpr+17q6qX8U
Really? If everyone is >50 years old then there is a trend. If everyone was female could it be s-xism? If everyone is of a specific race could it be considered racism? This is not rocket science...
"You would think someone here for 20 or 30 years would have worked their way up but no.. people recognize that in decades past that you could come here, do the bare minimum, get paid well, and just coast."
I guess the concept of a sole contributor is a foreign concept to you. As an engineer, why the hell would I want to be a manager? The stupidity of some of the comments I see hear are quite remarkable.
"Everyone I know of who have been laid off so far, are over 50"
Why is it age discrimination? We have an ocean of legacy employees here who have been at the teet for multiple decades, many of whom have been in the same job.
You would think someone here for 20 or 30 years would have worked their way up but no.. people recognize that in decades past that you could come here, do the bare minimum, get paid well, and just coast.
Reminds me of government employees.
Everyone I know of who have been laid off so far, are over 50. (A dozen people)
Age discrimination?
@1mck+17q6qX8U
OP said he was an auditor so I imagine the person means FSG and would not be in any of the CDF offices to pick things up. My guess, at least.
I’m really sorry OP, I’ve been laid off three times in my life and it’s not a good feeling but I recovered and bounced back. I found my job here after being laid off and I’m sure I’ll be in the same boat again. I wish you the best of luck in life and know you will embark upon something much better whatever path you Choose. Good luck and thank you for being candid.
Thank you OP for your reply to give those of us left some knowledge. Although things may seem overwhelming now, know that you and life have more than what this current moment holds. I wish you peace and that you look forward to embarking on what brings you happiness.
The shock of the layoff is what gets me the most. I had made no plans and the uncertainty of the future begins to overwhelm you. The next layoff date is 10/27. My 60 day notice is non-working since I was an auditor. The severance is 2 weeks per year service capped at 52 weeks and I think it has a minimum of 8 weeks. I am allowed access to the Wells Fargo Teamworks site through my personal computer.
OP - You go get another job if you want to work longer. But if I got a year early start on my retirement I'd be extremely happy.
Congrats on the sweet severance! Heard there were some trimming in CDF yesterday.
What is the severance? I heard it was cut from 2 weeks per year of service to 1.
OP, sorry to hear you were impacted but glad to see you are looking at the high road. Given the lack of candor and transparency from the top, can you speak to whether your notice period is working or non working? Are they allowing you access to HE or Chicago to collect any items?
Does anyone know when the next date is?
See if you can get a STAR job to delay the severance
See somebody posted about the day after Columbus a Tuesday being a layoff date and was correct.
wow 52 weeks!
I was lucky when Wells Fargo bought us from GE they transferred over our prior years of service within CDF so I will get the 60 day paid notice and the full 52 week severance which will bring me within 2 months of my target retirement date, However it takes away my option if I wanted to work longer.
Sorry to hear that. I am in the 4 year boat too, was it work for 60 days plus 8 weeks severance? I guess I am more concerned about losing the health care benefits.
I wish you luck and hope you find something quick.