Hi all. I would appreciate helpful and constructive criticism, not bullying as I have seen in some posts here. We can all remain civil while being in disagreement.
I worry about layoffs and this is my first corporate job. Does Charles Schwab always provide severance when someone is let go? What does that amount look like? Please feel free to provide your professional feedback as I am always looking for ways to grow.
As a former MD I wouldnt worry much. But a piece of advice....get out of that firm. It is a total dead end. Try to get in to an RIA or on that side of the business not a firm servicing RIAs. You will wake up 1 morning 10 years will have passed and you might be a "team lead". a ridiculous title used to pacify come people. 85% probablilty your salary on an adjusted basis will be less that it is now. Be smart get out when you can on your own this is a terrible firm,
There is still a good amount of opportunity to learn and become an advisor. Schwab is example of a West Coast company and a West Coast personality a phony place filled with people that will smile at you and then stab you in the back.
Tell all your young friends as well. Be smart look out for you. Don't be taking advantage of by somebody that gives you potluck dinner and a $25 gift card for a quality client call. find another role in finance. That is a terrible company that does not take care of it's people minimal raises no room for advancement of the very incestuous, environment in senior management.
If you're a recent grad in CSS or Move Money or something, I wouldn't worry about it. You don't cost much and the turnover is so high that they're able to get the teams to the size they want them to be in 2 months anyway just by not hiring.
Highly agree about how important self promotion is, at your skip levels even more so than your 1 on 1's. You can be terrible at your job and put zero effort in but if you know how to talk to your boss's boss you're golden.
You need to get good at the computa. Back when I started, everything was on paper and we had calculators for numba crunching and there was a typewriter station shared by the floor for when we had to write a letter or memo. Now they want everyone to use the stupid computa. I hate computas! That's problee why they layed me off. But you're yung so you problee did the computa in school so you know how to do things on them. You just need to get good on that crazy stuff like Akcell and word perfect and slides.
I truly don’t believe you’re at risk near term save for one scenario - Schwab goes the way of Lehman Bros.
I was in your same position in 2008, it was only my friends who had recently joined Lehman and Bear Sterns that got laid off - because EVERYONE got laid off. The rest of us, even those in financial services were pretty safe - it’s the top heavy, older employees that got the axe at other companies.
Costs cutting starts with trimming the fat - think Boomer/Genx director levels. You're young and cheap - but chaos is a ladder. Put yourself in a client facing role to the best of your ability and literally - showing enthusiasm and that youthful curiosity got me through my 20’s during the recession.
Just piggy-backing off what others have said, layoffs do create opportunities. I was a sr. manager who never managed anyone in my life. Then a couple of years ago they laid off my director. They asked me to step into her place and now I lead a team of 6. Dreams really do come true at Schwab.
If you get laid off just take your severance and move on. Invest it wisely and find other jobs that'll make you happy. No need to worry. Plenty of jobs out there. Spend time on brushing up your skills and networking. And one last thing don't forget to move your accounts.
@jv So true! Roll up your sleeves and put your nose to the grindstone then you will have a long and prosperous career at Schwab. Just be sure you highlight your key accomplishments during your weekly 1-on-1 with your manager. They have no way of knowing unless you tell them. I also found it helpful to have "casual" conversations with my coworkers to find out what they're working on so I can better position myself in comparison to them during my 1-on-1. You do need to sell yourself on why what you do is more valuable than what Jim and Mary do. I recommend putting together 3 to 4 bullet points on your value and another 3 to 4 bullets on why what they do may be unnecessary, insufficient, or inefficient and what you would do that would be better.
Layoffs are a good and necessary part of corporate life. Yes, I said "good". If you are a talented, motivated, and productive person then you never have to worry about being laid off. Whatsmore, whenever they layoff people who aren't talented, motivated, or productive, it creates opportunity for you to step in and show your value to Schwab, something that you'll be hansomely rewarded for. So unless you are lazy and have no initiative, you should see every layoff as an opportunity to rise further up the corporate ladder.
@ce First and foremost, I am glad you won the bottle with your cancer and delighted you are still here today. Continue to fight the good fight and enjoy one day at a time!
With my medical concern - I pay for the premium health insurance and aside from the insurance itself, I use all of the bells and whistles it comes with it because I am paying for it. How unfortunate that I can be seen as an expensive employee simply because I choose to use what I am paying for…
You will be fine if you are a good to better younger worker and healthy or don't use your health benefits.
Rick is implementing the consulting firm belief that you should layoff more experienced, expensive workers in favor of younger recent college grads and less expensive workers.
Don't get older than 45 and don't get sick at Schwab. Age discrimination is now a common practice under Rick Wurster and so is health discrimination. Expect these practices to continue until they are checked by a class action lawsuit or bad press.
When I worked there, over a year ago now, all employees were access Jumpword “severance” to read the details about it, I found it helpful for when I talked to my manager about adding me to the list in 2023.
@a3 They meant old people have more health problems as a group. It’s illegal to target someone for medical visits but yes you might be put on the list for that because the company self insures and fewer payouts mean more profit. Minimize your medical exposure. Never disclose anything to anyone. The claims you file should be protected under HIPAA but anything you volunteer is not. As far as your manager and coworkers know you’re healthy as can be.
@a2 Thank you very much for the information as well as the advice to stay prepared. I very much agree. I do have an additional question. When you say health concern, does this mean I could be seen as problematic for medical reasons? I believe I excel in my job but I do require many medical visits.
You are subject to the severance package If you’re part of a formal layoff. The base package is 60 days pay plus time for every year, full cost health insurance for 18 months under COBRA and a few other services.
Your layoff risk as new hire is lower because you have a low salary, fewer health concerns and won’t retire soon as long as you can do the job.
But always plan for today to be the day. Every day. Money stashed, contacts on your personal phone and materials you want for your resume. Layoffs aren’t if. They’re when. And the jobs data just went pandemic bad while tariff inflation is jumping.