Thread regarding Fidelity Investments layoffs

I thought my company was bad (SS&C) this sounds just as bad - if not worse. It appears to me all the companies in the Fund Management space (bar the newer ones) are absolutely the same. Old technology and old people who can't technically hack it in the new age/world environments hence they sandbag themselves against all the overhead mortar until they are dragged out kicking and screaming (which will never happen until they retire or the board is updated or changed).

I share OP's sentiment of frustration, despair and even anger. Abby gets to change her lieutenants at will anytime, we at bottom don't. The same group of not-properly educated, outdated, incompetent F-grade lifers occupy the leadership positions and they make sure no changes can happen. The over-representation and loss of the American company identity can be attributed to no other but these incompetent middle-upper management: they depend on hardworking and docile lackeys to deliver and failed to curb the overrepresentation before it went uncontrollable.

Stretching a bit, this is no different than what's in Washington: The Middle Management Establishment. The difference is we can't vote them out (please don't bring up the internal manager survey, I vote whoever I want with the assurance that the vote can't be traced back to me).

But as I told my children, this is the enterprise 101 you must accept.

"I wrote to the chief diversity officer about Fidelity's loss of identity over the over-representation of one foreign minority". got it.
At my kids school the only kids who are interested in math and computer science are kids who's parents are immigrants. I can see this trend work itself all the way up. The few excellent, native born software engineers don't aspire to work at a stodgy company like Fidelity, where they have to answer to Tech leadership that has never programmed themselves and got the job because they have an MBA. So we are left to hire from the pool of whoever applies - 'foreign minority' or not. We are a B grade company run by B and C grade executives. Do you think any of us would be here if we were A grade? We get what we pay for and we become what we promote. Don't blame the 'foreign minority' - they have no power here.

OP here. Picture a person with belly fat so thick that she can't see her feet, that's Fidelity. When Abby denounced "you guys move too slow, cost too much", that's why. I, like many of the ICs and frontline managers, am just a piece of remaining muscle on her feeble legs. I slack myself but am producing more than enough to not feel guilty of the paycheck I take home every two weeks.

I tried and failed to get into Google and Meta and have worked enough places to see Fidelity as not a bad place. I'm out of my boss' league but have enough EQ to cater to her needs and not let her feel threatened. I accepted being paid less but can't stomach being paid less than those who do much less. I wrote to the chief diversity officer about Fidelity's loss of identity over the over-representation of one foreign minority. I wrote to my BU head of HR explaining to her how I don't feel comfortable sharing my true opinions in internal surveys and pointed her to an earlier post about trimming middle management here. I'm action biased.

So, those of you with the PI (political intelligence) which I don't have, what other actions I may take to take down the fatty middle management? I don't mind losing my job as I'm the one who asked "what's the optimal time to leave Fidelity" and I have tons of hard artifacts to engage in a fist fight: git commits, Confluence pages, happy team mates and customers, white papers sitting on my disk pointing out the third-world practice in my domain and the smoke screens the ignorant SVPs put up to fool upper managements...

If there are truly nothing I can do now, on my last day as parting gifts, those white papers will go to Abby and BU heads.

You sound like a douche

You're a 'thought leader' yet you're on a layoff site asking for advice and don't know how to proceed. How ironic.

In your case, I found that when I assertively conceptualized alternative partnerships and orchestrated front-ended methods of empowerment with frictionless testing procedures and then customized the alignment of core competencies, is when I truly saw results.

Sounds like you have ambition. I suggest you look elsewhere.

My advice: take the amazing example your leaders set out and mirror them..do the bare minimum. They don’t appreciate your work and your extra effort then show them what an sp actually does. I’ve spent too many years going above and beyond hoping to be at an ep level but after many years of not being appreciated I’ve learned the bare minimum and acting busy results the same!

"Thought leader" is such a tired, douchie expression.

write to BU head? you must be mental even including this as an option. it makes you sound like a whiny *&$!&

Do u have people who report to u as an L7 manager? If so, that’s how they feel about u!
We all get SPs. U are not an exception.

BU heads are no different from the bloat you mention.
Overall the "satisfactory" range is 70% ish of everyone. Don't sweat it. Don't ki-l yourself. Learn from your manager and become a part of the bloat. If you want to do things and make a difference, Fidelity isn't for you.