I want to work for a philanthropic company who does good in the world. I want to work for a company I am proud of. And, regardless of what I’m about to say in the next paragraph, I do think Wells is doing a good thing here. If someone ever asks me if we should be involved in aiding in a humanitarian crisis, my answer is going to be a resounding yes.
And yet, I can’t help but be somewhat exasperated (have little faith in) the leadership of a corporation who gives it’s money away, while at the same time continuing to lay off their own dedicated workforce. Wells Fargo earned a net income of $4.7 Billion dollars in the first quarter of 2021. Did I read that right? Seems like plenty of money to be incredibly philanthropic, continue to pay our CEO his much needed annual salary of $25,000,000ish, and NOT lay-off loyal employees who contributed to the company earning the net income of $4.7 Billion in 3 months. How much money does WFC need to net in order to say it’s thriving?
Bottom line is that we work for a CEO/BOD who will happily send tens of thousands of it’s employees permanently packing while lining their own pockets generously, in order that it can send billions of $ to shareholders and then donate about 12% of Charlie’s annual income to a third-world country in the midst of a crisis. It’s been a common occurrence for large companies in 2020, but that doesn’t necessarily make it right.