Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

“… We are told to have “candor” but yet aren’t free to be candor.…”

And the candor thing is a one way street. The message on candor is: do as I say, not do as I do.

Based on many things we are all seeing, from the perspective of employees who actually want to build banking careers, Wells Fargo is incompetent. Leaders ARE leaving. There’s no transparency. We are told to have “candor” but yet aren’t free to be candor. The employees who are top talent and highly skilled may ride it out a bit further, but in the end Wells is hemorrhaging from the inside out. Even lazy employees see it.

@1aqt+1g0VNpdO
Agreed but Saul is only one down from CS.

My 2 cents is there's a lot going on in the company. People have been working remote for 2 years and now having to go in. The layoffs and all the management changes have been a huge disruption (and not necessarily a good one).

It often feels like it is absurdly hard to get anything done. Even many simple things are ridiculously arduous to get accomplished b/c of all the process, people on-shore and off-shore, etc. We have a contractors that can't seem to get access to hardly anything he needs. A LOT of people have left (or were laid off) so much of that institutional knowledge left the bank.

Now, in tech specifically, look at all the leadership changes and departures over the past 2-3 years. Many people from the outside who don't know jack about the bank and as rumor has it, not the A list from the banks they came from. Somebody mentioned to me that Sr. roles (maybe 2 or 3 down from Charlie) HAD to be from the outside and approved by regulators. In tech that's Saul and his direct reports at a minimum.

People left b/c of better opportunities (work, money, remote, etc.) and b/c they're probably fed up with all the BS. My take is most people want to do a good job and get things done. At a certain times it seems futile.

I'm sticking around for a variety of reasons but mostly b/c the work I'm doing is really interesting.

Goals can be updated after today. You must have a minimum of two entered today however.

I am really weirded out by the reluctance of my manager to enter in the performance objectives we are all being told are due today

I feel it, too. Something strange is going on. Here's my take:

The best people have already left the company. They're long gone.

Those who remain fall into two separate camps: those who CAN'T leave (and who are feeling Stuck or Trapped in an undesirable situation); and those who are WAITING to leave (people who are "looking" or who are "retirement elegible").

I don't think anyone considers this to be a company within which to make a lifelong career anymore.

WF may very well be on the path to join companies like Sears, Blockbuster and Compaq on the ash heap of history.

Totally. Our team isn’t being back filled at all unless oversees or contractors. Whenever that happens. Not holding my breath.
So much drain from everyone. Nothing extraordinary happens anymore, seems like everyone is just ‘hanging in there’ and doing what they must and not more. I’d say this for all of the many many depts I work with. It’s like having an interaction with Walmart employees.

I have to agree with you. The strategic decision are all centered around staying relevant and employed by those with a say. People are being used/abused, instead of promoted at lower mgt levels because doing so might mean admitting a sr mgr is useless and their directs have been making them look good. Embrace Candor’ is most definitely not being embraced because those at the top. Everyone is finally seeing that this company only serves the few with any actual power or influence. As someone who believed that I was going to demonstrate my value with exceptional outcomes, I have finally realized that all of my hard work allowed Sr leadership to take credit for finding someone that is just the right kind of smart/stupid.

This is a good thread. I have felt the weird vibe since they implemented span of control and ki---d the middle manager role. I am not the only person without work. People are checked out. It has been pretty bad since RTO commenced. I think people will grow slightly more comfortable, but the bank is in a bad spot. I think we are seeing a big drain about to commence.

They want to cut 50,000 people that's what's going on. Everyone is scrambling to make their hamster wheel look important enough to keep.

I think this is simply because so many upper and middle managers who actually knew how to run a financial firm have "retired". The new managers have no idea why we did things or what the processes were, so their take is it's "too complicated" and to start over. Of course, these new managers have little experience in the industry, their only strength being a couple dozen memorized business jargon phrases, so they don't know all the ramifications of these decisions.

Thank you to those managers providing comments. It helps a lot to hear your perspectives.

Something else that feels strange is the lack of focus on completing the annual numerous and repetitive Develop You training classes. All managers used to focus on was sending out reminders about completing the training classes before the deadline! Or else! This year, there’s only been one class assigned. What’s up with that?

The vibe right now is interesting. There may something blowing in the wind.

Most is this is caused by the country being hijacked by the Woke Mob. Charlie's strategy is like most coward CEO's, appeasement.

Outside of a main group of core executives, everyone else is miserable. I've been asked several times if it is worth the money to be a liar. Many managers feel they are forced to be disingenuous with their employees and promote RTO even though they are against it.

Employee morale for the most part is in the drain. I hesitate to use the words near-dystopian, but for many that is what it feels like. Many do not feel they are trusted by the company. Others are irritated with the shift of work overseas and the difficulties that brings. They simply do not feel like they are valued. All of the trinkets, rah-rah messaging, and doublespeak isn't taken seriously. Employees do not feel heard or respected. Many employees feel they are not being judged purely on how hard they work. They get passed by for raises or promotions as we hire from outside or promote those who drink the corporate kool-aid and join as many meeting groups as they can to get facetime with higher ups. WFH they could focus on their real job and work duties and get those done without all of the buffoonery that goes on at the office. Add increased work life balance to that, and you can see why employees were actually happy WFH - at least most of them were happy.

I get the feeling we are going to sell off two big pieces of WF very soon. One to an overseas investment firm that wants more footing in the US. The other goes to a bid war between 2 lower ranked banks wanting to expand their portfolio. Won't count as WF job losses, due to them being owned by another company and that company decides who to keep. Lightens the portfolio so they can continue to focus on the digital transition.

Seems like managers have very little control over anything anymore. Not that they ever did have a lot of autonomy, but definitely seems it has gotten worse.

Also seems like managers are being sucked into more meetings leading to less engagement with their teams, and yet somehow also have less visibility into what is being asked from higher up and a lack of transparency to any changes being made.

Unfortunately I would not hold my breath on the board holding upper management accountable for their shortfalls as the newly installed chairman of the board is a former JPMorgan crony.

just a terrible frontline manager here

i dont know whats happening on any given day. i cant reprimand my employees because they just go to hr and complain which means i cant take any actions. upper management is clueless and collecting their pay. nobody is happy. getting pood on from all sides and its looking bleak.