I'm a transplant from TD and just about everything here is markedly worse. The training, the tools, the expectations are all stress-inducing to say the least. I am honestly baffled that there are intentions to reduce the workforce, because there are plainly not enough associates to handle the workload in any of the places I interact. TD was by no means perfect, but I felt a greater sense of belonging in a sort of family. Everything here feels utterly clinical, with no regard for the stressors of the workplace. I feel like a jailer in a dungeon, and it appears everyone else feels that way too. Has Schwab just always been this way?
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I too came from TD and felt like I came from a warm family to a cold jail cell with fellow jail mates. You can definitely feel the shift in not only their system but their culture. No one smiles anymore when you walk around, if anything it’s a forced smile to keep it happy go lucky professional unless you're leadership making 6 figures. I guess I’m grateful to be here but I miss TD.
I had come back to TDA because I missed it honestly, having been lured away by a startup for a bit over a year, and was cautiously optimistic when Crains told us we had been bought by Schwab. Chuck & his firm's reputation preceded them, as they say. It took me almost a year to realize that emperor was butt na--d. TDA could be slow, and bureaucratic and risk averse (compared to some of the firms it acquired, including the one I worked for) but there people (actual humans who in TDA were not fungible) you could reach out to. Sure, they'd ask for a Remedy ticket but you could still talk to them. They'd do everything they could to help you both get the job done. 'never felt that at CS. It always felt like, "You green barbarians clearly don't don't know what you're doing. I'll englighten you -- tomorrow (because it's nightime in India right now...)." When you paid it back (or forward) at TDA, you always felt appreciated. In my two years at CS I never felt that. And yeah, the systems. I complained about my team of salaried employees having to fill out time sheets at TDA, (two for contractors) but Schwab added a third and another two I as their manager had to fill out. Getting help from HR about anything was hopeless. There were multiple systems requiring me to approve and re-approve inexplicable access to unknown systems for folks ... not on my team. If I were still there, honestly, a severance package would be a blessing, IMHO.
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A decade ago it was a great place to work. Perfect? No, but at least functional and you could honestly say that management wanted to help people out.
Communication has always been unprofessional.
No the company is way worse than it was even 10 years ago. Walt and this EC brought the company culture down. We on the blue side used to want to work hard for the company. Now I could care less. Looking for a new job
Welcome to the jungle. We got fun and games
Schwab was not like this until it grew big, so no it was not always like this. With size comes complexity.
Also it's Schwab's aggressive culture that made it ready to cut commission to zero and also buy TD. So it's a trade off, I think.
I do agree there is lot is stress doing day to day work.
it is a check in the box mentality..from training, to job performance to requirements for promotion. just check the boxes and exist long enough, you'll get the promotions you want.
Yes it is an extremely cutthroat environment run by leaders who are all “friends” of other senior leaders and they all act alike. It was not always this way.
The reason that this board is so hated by Schwab leadership is the transparency it provides to the workforce. This is the reason all anonymous questions that you use to be able to ask leaders was taken away and now they require you to add your name to everything.
Schwab leadership has always been shady and you would hear about it via rumors but this site call out that shadiness and bring it out to the open. This is the reason I believe trolls have taken over this site. It is people that are trying to throw out disinformation to hide the real information this site provides. The good news is that you can usually tell when someone is trolling as they are not very intelligent.
In closing I wish everyone the best of luck next week. Just know that everyone is at risk to be laid off as a third party is conducting the layoffs and all they are looking at is the numbers.
People cold dump calls like crazy just to pump their numbers and get promoted. It is miserable taking Schwab calls. I’ve asked my manager to go back to TD calls, no luck.
Has Schwab always been like this?
No.
I didn’t fully believe my co-workers who went blue before me say that they systems su-ked and you often can’t get straight answers…till I transitioned over and the systems su-k bad. And I can call a department three different times and get three different answers. At TD they’d at least be consistent.
Haven't been in an employee there in awhile but yes...the Schwab culture is what it is. They don't walk the walk.
What org are you in? Hasn’t been my experience at all.