Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

Post ID: @tdr+17z6MAGF “Sorry, but this segment really isn’t that important to the bank. WF is fundamentally a mass market bank, no one cares about FAs leaving.”

You know...I have a great idea for you! You sound very in-the-know and confident, you’ve done your research, so your voice should be heard by all with your real identity attached to it. You shouldn’t limit yourself to just posting anonymously with that insightful business mind of yours.

Go post your thoughts and suggestion publicly and proudly. In a place where the FAs and leadership can see. I’m sure you’ve already spoken with Barry Sommers, so it’s cool. And then let’s see how quickly you are moved up or out.

@1med+
You're either not an employee or didn't read the site. You're 100% incorrect about being laid off.

Post ID: @tdr+17z6MAGF

Believe me, every single person working at WFA prays we get sold by WFC. It would be a blessing. Very difficult to bring in new prospects in the last 4 years since all the fraud, abuse of clients, billions of $s in settlements. They ruined research, so we have nothing special to offer there. That doesn’t take in to consideration the business we have lost due to the tarnished reputation. Our lack of technology doesn’t support many of the strategies wealthy clients can do at our competitors, such as trading foreign stocks in foreign currencies or arbitraging the spreads in ETFs. Sell us, please.

D: @fcf+17z6MAGF. Yes, you will loose the match if you leave or laid off anytime before Dec15 for the entire year. I doubt calling HR will make any difference. Maybe calling your congressman might.

Amen brother. We won the battle while the war continues. Time to pop a cool one and enjoy the weekend knowing my match money still coming , gangstas!

The person who keeps posting about FAs really needs to spend some time looking at the bank’s financial statements. Consumer contributes 3.5 times and Commercial contributes 5 times as much net income as WIM.

And, retail (non FA) assets in WIM are 3 times the size of FA assets.

Sorry, but this segment really isn’t that important to the bank. WF is fundamentally a mass market bank, no one cares about FAs leaving. They should probably exit that business anyway.

It looks like the annual payout will be the last business day of the year (Dec 31). If I am laid off during the year, do I completely lose any matching payment for the year or will they prorate the payment? For example: I get laid off in June, 2021. Will I get the equivalent of 6 months of the company match?

I may have to call HR next week (I'm sure they are getting slammed with calls now).

@zth+17z6MAGF When advisors leave they generally take 90+% of their clients with them. Plus the get a nice upfront forgivable loan and enhanced payout. So don't expect to keep all those assets. LOL!

in my state there is WARN, so they'd let me know. I will do catchup contributions only from now on.

For those talking about offer letters being a contract - no they are not. And the company benefit plans are not an employment contract. Companies are free to amend their plans at any time. You can't sue a company for changing their benefits. You are not guaranteed the same benefit plan your entire career. Try working as a 1099 contractor with no benefits, no paid leave, no disability, no retirement money put into an account for you, no one paying half of your SS taxes. Wow - shaking my head.

I'm glad every benefits-eligible employee will be eligible for match because regardless of how much you make, we all need to save for retirement, and the company's contributions are a big boost to my savings. Other financial firms do limit match over a certain compensation threshold. And their match is not $1 for $1 up to 6%. We still have a very rich 401K plan, and I'm thankful to have it. My brother hasn't had a 401K ever and he has about $1,000 saved. I have $1,000,000 saved, and I know it is only because I have worked for companies with a 401K plan. No, I'm not "highly compensated", I've just saved in the 401K all my career. And I'm ready for retirement 9 years early. Drama this week wasn't fun, but I am glad we all get to continue to reap the benefits.

@qth
Yep

I've seen a few comments about the offer letter being some kind of "contract". Your cover letter is an agreement for day 1. They can later fire you, lay you off, reorg or demote you etc. And since an employer is not required to offer a match, I'm sure there's fine print somewhere that says the match is at the employer's discretion. Same with severance, they can change it anytime they want – right up to the day you are displaced.

@kqu+
LOL wholesale and retail bring in a hell of a lot more. They're the most profitable LOBS. It's better if advisors leave because that's assets we can use to grow other areas more under the cap.

OP I would be interested to hear more from you than just your headline. Could you go a little deeper and explain your thought process?

To: @glw+17z6MAGF... Just one wrinkle with the strategy of backloading your contributions is that you can only withhold a max of 50% per paycheck.

I was thinking how they will going to defend their decision legally should someone went to court. When they provide offer letter, 401K match is clearly mentioned and it's contract between two parties. Breaking portion of contract by one party is breach of contract and court could ask it to reinstate.

I feel that someone might have threatened WF with court case and they backed down... well let's see what happens on 10/27...

If you don’t contribute throughout the year, you will miss out on the benefits of compounding and investment gains. Compounding over time is the entire premise of a retirement savings account. Leave it to this company to eff up a seriously basic principle.

Anyone who thinks this is good leadership by Shart and his cronies is a fool. The execs who developed and sold him on this should be canned. They all look even more incompetent and disorganized now. Maybe they'll learn from this, but highly doubt it based on what we've been seeing.

Who's making these decisions? My goodness.

They'll find a way to tax us another way (250k folks). Reduced grid payout or reduced deferred comp bonuses.

We're permitted to move the amount of contribution throughout the year. Move your contribution to '0' for the first nine months. Contribute your entire pay in November/December and use the cash saved in the first 10 months to cover any expenses over November/December. Why should I contribute throughout the year (26 pay periods) and provide to minimum transactions in order for WF to avoid transaction fees? If all the employees did this, you would see a reversal pretty quick. Minimum fees for managing the 401k program with no contributions would be devastating.

I was thinking how they will going to defend their decision legally should someone went to court. When they provide offer letter, 401K match is clearly mentioned and it's contract between two parties. Breaking portion of contract by one party is breach of contract and court could ask it to reinstate.

I feel that someone might have threatened WF with court case and they backed down... well let's see what happens on 10/27...

Wow, a lame reversal on an ill-conceived strategy. So is this the new strategy, start with "Jelly-of-the-Month" reductions and then see if there is any pushback? Yes, you stay classy, Chainsaw Chuck!

They didn't fix feces, changing from quarterly to yearly match is bull feces and they're quietly not mentioning that.

I can pretty much guarantee you that it was the FAs who spoke out. And they are the Golden Goose, bringing in the assets.

The whole idea didn’t pass the smell test from the start. I would love to know which group put their heads together and convinced themselves they were on the right track. And why Charlie signed off on it. They didn’t think it through thoroughly, or didn’t consider dissenting opinions and counterpoints before throwing it out there. I sincerely hope that is not a sign of the quality of the current and future decision-making at the firm.

Having said that, I’m so glad they listened and adjusted. That takes some humility, and I’m going to give Charlie a bonus poInt for doing that,

I would like to recommend that Charlie run all future ideas past me and my girlfriends at the firm. We will work for a couple bottles of wine and some Fritos. But we will tell it like it is, the good and the bad, and we will save the firm from any future ill-conceived ideas. You need good people working for you who have some common sense and will speak up rather than s— up.

At least they made a good decision in the end. 401k matches are limited by government requirements - so the 6 percent only applies to up to $285k in comp no matter how much higher paid people make. So no one gets more than a $17k match whether they make $285k or $2 million.

At this point, I am going to drop part of my 401k just so I can afford the $900.00 increase in my medication costs with Express Scripts.

The part where you still need to be at the company on Dec 15 f—s us pretty hard, so it's almost like they didn't fix sh–.

Nice to know HR is looking out for folks making serious bank. The rank and file need a union if they want the same consideration.

I’m sorry - you need to re-evaluate what you consider good leadership. Good leadership would get feedback before communicating such a ‘kick in the gut’ type of change to the entire organization. This is not ‘good leadership’.

Wasn't it there all along for people under $250k/yr?

I’d like to think of this as good leadership taking feedback and having the pulse of the company. Sure the messaging was all off and the company will still save with moving contributions to annual instead of quarterly but at the end of the day leadership reversed course after getting substantial feedback on a really bad decision. They got this one half right for now!