I can't help but think they are going to just flat out get rid of ALL FC's at TD and only keep the SFC's. This is so messed up. Right now I just watched my new bride fall asleep in tears, with my unborn son, and she's scared to death how we're going to put food on the table. I wish they knew how this kind of uncertainty messed people up. I just can't see there being 15K S/FC's at 1 firm. Some of us are gone. I just hope they give us a job as a CSS, or even a janitor, something. I can't sleep, I can't eat...but "this is all so exciting" ahem. "It's going to be great, we're part of history." ahem. Tell that to my wife.
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I totally understand your pain, while at the same time, find it unbelievable that you didn't plan for this coming. We knew of the merger over a year ago. Your wife was pregnant within this timeframe. Were you hoping the merge would just go a way, and not happen? Taking a play out of the US government playbook on dealing with the pandemic. Bleach injection theory, somehow we can get those lungs cleaned out in a few minutes. Warmer weather and it will magically like gas just dissipate. Don't want to be harsh, but it is what it is, right?
Not to be harsh, but none of this should be a surprise. There’s no need for Schwab to keep a bunch of TD associates in certain roles. You have time - find another role with the combined firm or another one. Or move if needed. It’s not the end of the world.
Schwogwash.
Hogwash. Sounds like someone from TD alright.
What most Schwab folks don't understand is that this was a merger, not an acquisition. Schwab did not acquire TD, TD chose to merge with Schwab. I know this is a does of reality for Schwab staff, but it is what it is.
Hogwash
If TD is so great, why was it acquired by Schwab. It's not like TD acquired Schwab.
Schwab technology (STS) does not pay as well as other tech positions. I average $230 - $240K a year with bonus (~200K base + average bonus $30 - $40Kish depending on performance). I would make more at other tech companies, especially more generous and coveted stock options compared to Schwab.
From what I have seen TD culture appears to be rude. Thank you, I will pass. That's like do you want tuna melt or rat poison. And you're like I don't know, that's hard choice, I don't really like tuna melt.
Get grip dude. I worked for Schwab for 9 years and then got laid off. My wife was pregnant too. I interviewed for everything and almost wound up taking a job for Progressive auto insurance. But at the last minute I got a job at Wells Fargo. 25% pay cut, but I didn't care. My wife and i danced in the kitchen. 3 years later an old manager called me and said there was a position opening up at Schwab and that I should interview. I got the job and my old salary back. So you do what you gotta do, rely on your contacts, do the best you can, and things will work out.
Keep in mind that TD employees are not paid as well so there is really no value in laying them off. Even headhunters have made that comment when trying to lure TD employees to competitors' workplaces. A lot of TD employees have left TD for better paying jobs in the past but many stayed because of the TD culture. Schwab can benefit a lot from the TD employee culture and not just from TD's business model.
Now that we are all Schwab, we should move these discussions over to the Schwab Layoffs section.
First of, FCs are not real VPs. They are more like Captains in the Air Force. Every pilot can become a Captain. Versus The US Navy, a Captain is a big deal. Not everyone gets to be a Captain of nuclear submarine.
Second, MDs at TD are equivalent to VPs, maybe certain SVPs, at Schwab. TD MDs are like colonels in the US Army, while Schwab MDs are like more like majors.
@2cqg+17pn4d8A an absurd number VPs at CS. you get a VP title! you get a VP title!
Perhaps you can apply for one of the open requisitions for a Schwab FC, with a fancy VP title.
All you can do is be prepared for opportunity. Until further notice Schwab is continuing education reimbursement for designations. If the worst happens, your colleagues in branch and across the network could be joining firms where you might obtain a referral if the worst happens. TD associates have a strong brand in the financial employment marketplace. It’s scary but your family of three are not alone in this even though you’ll forge your own path. Don’t forget about your talent and what you bring to Schwab or any other employer.
Both Schwab and TD has a lot of accounts combined and need as many worker bees as possible. The bigwigs that left did not leave poor, and truthfully, they were not needed plus it made sense for them to go. Stop stressing so much. Take an online class, work on getting additional licenses, etc. Even a real estate license if you want. You sound like you have a lot of good years left so make use of them. A lot of people who lost their jobs are not young so you are in a pretty good place compared to many others.
My dad worked two menial jobs when I was in grade school and there were six kids. My mom had to take on a part time factory job. Yes - we were all latch key kids but all the bills got paid and we all ended up going to college. I did not have an ideal childhood but it all worked out for the best. Even though I could have been a stay at home wife/mother, I worked my a$$ of while raising my kids because I know there will be a day when I will have to help pick up the pace.
Your wife should also. Instead of crying, she needs to just step up and figure out how she can help pay the bills in a worst case scenario. I get it that she is pregnant but where there's a will, there's a way. We will be okay in the end. Don't judge yourself and don't let others judge you. I have an MBA but I took a night job as a hotel clerk while working my day job in Finance - when my husband lost his job. It was tiring and stressful, but it worked and we were able to make our Bay Area mortgage payment. We took out a lot of loans, but with sacrifices, were able to pay it back in full even while raising our kids on a temporary measly income. But it takes two to make it work when raising a family.
You know though you guys, you don't know the situation. Everyone's in different. Anybody ever seen that Will Smith Movie "Pursuit of Happiness?" You don't know what is going on in other people's lives. You don't know the burden other people carry. What if the original poster went through years and years of chemo where he racked up 100's of thousands of debt (I did), while trying to finish his senior year in college (I did), and finally found a safe, secure position so he could pay off all that debt? What if he is the only child of 2 parents who need more medical treatment than he can afford? What if he is doing his best to try and finish his senior year right now so he CAN find another job that pays (at least half) of what he's getting paid now? It's not black and white. That's the problem with meritocracy, no one EVER truly gets what they deserve, fortune or unfortunate, that's why we call the homeless "Unfortunates." Sure, Luck is when opportunity meets preparation, and that's true to an extent. What about the OTHER 1% though, not the wealthy. The guys who just barley made it to TD as a miracle because they had health issues, family issues, a million issues I'd never wish upon my worst enemies family in my life? Recently the CEO of Southwest Air decided he wasn't going to take a salary in 2021. He cut his executives pay by half. That's true leadership. Leadership isn't a right, it's a privilege. Leaders are responsible for the most valuable asset they have, and it's not the client, it's their customers. I think we can all agree that leaving us hanging by a thread, not knowing if we'll be laid off tomorrow, or the next day, or the next month is causing SO MUCH anxiety in our lives it makes it hard to do the job. The job I so desperately wanted to do when I joined this company. They say "get excited" they say "be proud of what you're creating"...just tell me this, why in the hell would I be excited, and want to give my all to a firm who could turn around and tell me the day after tomorrow that it's over for me and my family, and set us back 10 years financially, when we've sc-aped and crawled to get to this point?
Bro the acquisition was announced a year ago! I’m not a biologist, but 9 months is generally the timeframe for a pregnancy. MGP! You got this.
I feel your pain but you need to get a grip. You cannot burden your wife with this, especially if she is pregnant. Find the courage to be a true leader to protect your family. You'll get another job, this isn't the only employer out there. If you need to get two menial jobs to support your family, that's what needs to be done. Life is unfair, life is hard and "You" need to stay positive for your family.
Either way, it just seems like 15K consultants is going to be too many. I bet they could cut that number by 40%.
Not sure about TD, but at Schwab, all FCs have the title of VP. So it makes sense to keep those VPs around. Even though that VP title is analogous to a Captain in Air Force, versus that in the Navy. Everyone is a Captain in the Air Force, and if not a Captain, then you're a nobody. You could be flying a cargo plane hauling manure out of Hong Kong and yes you guessed it, you are a Captain of your own cargo plane.