Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

Why is there still such a lack of transparency around salaries, raises and bonuses??

Because companies like Wells Fargo do not want their unfair pay practices and discrimination to be exposed.

**Women, chances are that you are making 83% of the salary of the man sitting next to you. **

Long-term employees, chances are that external recruits are being paid more than you even though they usually have poor retention rates and underperform compared to you.

Can your manager clearly explain why you are “intermediate” vs “senior”, or “associate” vs “senior”, and what the difference is in compensation? HR keeps changing the titles and job descriptions which only adds to the confusion. And they continue to play with salary vs bonus to hide unfair pay practices. (Your salary might be similar to Bob’s, but his bonus is twice as much as yours.)

Wells Fargo says “they are committed to fair and equitable compensation practices.” And yet they recently rejected a shareholder proposal to provide more compensation data in the interest of closing gender, racial and age-related pay gaps. The culture of secrecy keeps everyone in the dark—and probably working for less than they’re truly worth. 

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| 2066 views | | 29 replies (last February 15, 2024) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1qZFyfD5

29 replies (most recent on top)

I only have access to a small group of team members. About 150 people. 60% are men. Base salaries range from $100-225k. Looking at similar levels, there is no discernable statistical difference by gender. I know many of the people personally. Pay discrepancies almost always have to do with tenure length rather than your biological s-x. There are real pay gaps and pay inequity. In my area those issues have zero to do with gender.

Executive above me is female. 2 up is female. Amongst my 5 peers, 3 are female, 2 are male (plus me - male). There may be problems elsewhere but I'm skeptical. Having done a lot of hiring you are really restricted in the process from showing a bias in hiring and with how much money you can offer. And it's even more controlled when it comes to annual ratings.

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Post ID: @6emo+1qZFyfD5

It's all a sham. We hire people off the street with half the experience over what tenured people make. Heck, oftentimes with zero experience, cause it's a hook up job! We used to have transparency of how much the incentive pool was funded etc. (lower level employees). Now, you just have to be grateful for whatever crumbs they throw at you. And know that if you're not a favorite, you will never get what a "full" incentive since they claim the target doesn't exist anymore. Well, we know it only exists for those they like.
A few co-workers discuss it to see how badly we are scr**ed each year. Some get more and some don't. It is definitely good to have a few people you can trust to ask. You'll have facts!

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Post ID: @4uow+1qZFyfD5

The “wage gap” has been debunked time and time and time again over the years and is simply untrue. You need to take a break from your internet echo chambers. That being said, WF is unfair with pay.

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Post ID: @3oux+1qZFyfD5

There are legit reasons for two people in same role to earn differently. That's why there are ranges. "Equity" is not the same thing as "equality"

there have been tech companies where employees have created shared documents where people fill in their role, years of experience, gender etc. Some companies have been held to task when that revealed inequity. but those companies hadn't been looking at the data themselves.

Comp equity is examined every way possible internally. It is examined by regulators (as it is at every large bank). There is a process for adjustments.

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Post ID: @2ioa+1qZFyfD5

Lead in Risk $207K + $60 bonus

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Post ID: @2onk+1qZFyfD5

I am a senior lead and make $268k salary.

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Post ID: @1yiy+1qZFyfD5

I’m a retail branch banker making well over 100k

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Post ID: @1tvr+1qZFyfD5

@apb+1qZFyfD5 if Wells (or any big business for that matter) went to reporting purely on achievements everyone would be complaining about the exact opposite of the bullets in this thread.

It would be nothing other than bellyaching about “micro-management”, wasting time tracking time spent on specific tasks, etc etc. But that would be the only way to make it “fair” across the board. Everything would have to be tracked and metrics driven.

None of the traits listed are a negative on their own. Being visible has ALWAYS led to rewards since forever and rightfully so. But that is a fault in leadership not calling out the BS if there are no results shoring up those words.

The same goes for open salary like in Gov federal gov positions. Look there and you will find out the salary of any employee based on their rank/job position pay schedule. But promotions are still essentially arbitrary.

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Post ID: @1phv+1qZFyfD5

Fine be honest. For the senior leads, what are you getting paid in this wide range?

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Post ID: @1wtq+1qZFyfD5

Too many socialist folks want it equal and to never take into account total diverse experience, Education levels, certifications, performance, etc.

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Post ID: @1yjq+1qZFyfD5

Has nothing to do with pay disparity. That exists and has exited whether or not the salary ranges are posted.

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Post ID: @asr+1qZFyfD5

Stop pushing the myth that women at eoaid 83 or 72 percent of what men are for same job.

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Post ID: @lvp+1qZFyfD5

I've been saying this for a while. Keeping comp a secret only hurts employees - it doesn't help them.

If everyone knew everyone else's salary, how would that hurt you? I can't think of a reason.

It hurts the company though, because they'd be bombarded with complaints etc about unequal pay practices.

Your salary etc being confidential is not for your benefit even though it's sold to you that way.

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Post ID: @hsp+1qZFyfD5

We are hiring thousands in India. Isn’t that enough diversity and equity for you?

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Post ID: @ess+1qZFyfD5

I am a white male and enjoy higher salary than my peers. I have also been privileged to be a member of elite senior management team with people which I represent.

You don’t believe me? Just look around. Still not convinced? Did you see executives comments made public about lack of diverse talent?

Proof is in the pudding folks.

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Post ID: @pdj+1qZFyfD5

a good portion of salary differences can come down to differences between the s-xes, which is why at times dei initiatives can be helpful. If a man and a woman are getting hired for the same job, men usually have no problem countering a salary offer and it usually isn't held against them, whereas as women on average will not counter and as a result the man is now starting out making more than the women. you then add to it that it is the wild West come comp time then over time the difference just compounds itself. Men will also tend to apply for jobs if they think they meet 60% of the qualifications where as women usually have a much higher threshold like 80%+. We need to take the human element out of the decision. Offer the same salary to every candidate based on the position and come review time have managers input a bunch of variables and let an algorithm determine what everyone gets for merit and bonus.

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Post ID: @gjt+1qZFyfD5

Wells Fargo has a history of deception, leading to the asset cap, consent decrees and unionization. Why would anyone seek a career here, and what self respecting advisor would expose clients to this mediocrity? Simply put, if you are an advisor with Wells you are either an id--t or you don't care about your clients. Period. Seek a career elsewhere and if you're a client do business with honest people.

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Post ID: @mfm+1qZFyfD5

The managers don't know anything about explaining the different roles. How can they when they were hired as they knew the right person & are unseasoned bankers, unlike their Direct Reports. That is WF's downfall.

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Post ID: @cbo+1qZFyfD5

Should be discussing job history, experience, and value when comparison salaries to make the apples to apples comparison. FWF!!!

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Post ID: @mrc+1qZFyfD5

As soon as most of my co-workers were laid off, we shared our salary info. Very revealing

This revealed time and time again that the two best ways to make more than others is to be:

  • Be Likeable but not a pushover (fairly pleasant disposition while saying "no" often)
  • Contribute on phone-based meetings (make yourself sound confident)

You can have next-to-zero actual productivity and still achieve those two things.

This isn't intended to sound cynical or promote a scheme to do less while getting paid more. It is simply pattern recognition at play. This is what I noticed in my peers and their compensation comparatively.

There is good and bad here. On one side it says martyrs get taken advantage of. Every team has people with too much pride that they won't ask for help when their work queue gets loaded up. Martyrs should realize they can dial it back a bit.

On the other side it reveals how lax WF is with performance reporting on their employees. This is a con that only hurts the WF worker when the reality of life post-layoff kicks in. Interviewing anew is hard and sure being likable is an asset, yet what about everything else? What did they actually produce that could be of value to other companies?

Long post, sorry. This is just another rant about how important a good HR department is for benefitting the company and the employee. There is such abandonment out there, people treated so poorly and given no support, it hurts everyone equally.

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Post ID: @apb+1qZFyfD5

Nobody is stopping you from sharing your salary with anyone else.

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Post ID: @yca+1qZFyfD5

I can personally attest to my male coworker with the same title etc making over 10% more than me and we got the same year end ratings.

So disheartening to work here

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Post ID: @pxv+1qZFyfD5

Managers don’t know much nor share what they know. If they did they would be out of a job. They won’t even tell you the true criteria on the performance ratings nor promotions. I have no clue what my manager does day to day other than attend meetings and review my work where she has no meaningful contribution to. It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out why it takes to improve efficiency and transparency. Reduce the number of managers and directors!

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Post ID: @ofl+1qZFyfD5
  1. M

OP doesn’t say it’s unique to Wells Fargo. It is a culture which we have all bought in to, and to our own detriment. Knowledge is power and they do not want employees empowered.

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Post ID: @orz+1qZFyfD5

what you talk about is a cultural thing in the US and other places, definitely not unique to WF.

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Post ID: @hxd+1qZFyfD5

@obd+1qZFyfD5

True, but Wells Fargo has just widened the salary ranges to get around equal pay for equal work complaints. The salary for my job is $60K to $120K and that does not include bonus.

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Post ID: @lfy+1qZFyfD5

Can attest that when I left I was my salary was only 70-80% of what new hires were being brought in at for the exact same position despite my 20 years experience.

It doesn’t pay to stay.

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Post ID: @mat+1qZFyfD5

you are welcome to tell your whole team what your make and vice versa. You can also ask your manager what the salary range is your your job. In many states the company is required by law to tell you when asked. Pre work day it was great because we had the job family tool where you could look up all jobs and get the range by area differential. Not so much now, but again all you have to do is ask.

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Post ID: @obd+1qZFyfD5

It’s all bs. I have a friend who is intermediate but was told he makes more than the senior next to him. We also have employees whose job titles do not match their jobs so that their manager could get them more money.
And I know there are limitations as to how many senior titles can exist in a department, so you may deserve a senior title but you’re not going to get it until another senior-titled employee leaves.

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Post ID: @rcm+1qZFyfD5

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