Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

Wells Fargo is approaching breaking the record

...for longest period of time that a public company has posted consistent YOY headcount declines.

I got curious this morning about just how unusual the situation at Wells is, and decided to do some digging. Based on the information I can find, here's some of the existing records for longest consecutive streaks of corporate downsizing:

IBM went through 8 years of downsizing from 1985 to 1993 as the tech market moved from mainframes to personal computers, shrinking from a high of 405k employees to 219k by 1993.

General Motors went through 7 years of YOY headcount reductions from 2002 to 2009 as a result of foreign competition and shrinking market share, up until their bankruptcy in the wake of the global financial crisis and bailout by the US government.

Blackberry/RIM posted 5 straight years of headcount cuts from 2011 to 2016 as a result of competition from iPhone and Android, finishing in 2016 with 25% of the employees they started with.

Wells is currently running a streak from 2019 to today, blowing past Blackberries record and in line with GM. Given the CEO's public statements, we're also on track to beat IBM as well. Don't you feel proud to work here?

(My point was this post was just to let folks know, if this feels like an overwhelmingly toxic place to work, you are not alone. The situation at Wells is extraordinarily, historically bad. This is not normal)


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| 25 views | | 14 replies (last 1 day ago) | Reply
Post ID: @OP+1kvzmcb0d

14 replies (most recent on top)

When they carry out a mass layoff instead of RIF, and then blame AI because truth is inconvenient that'll just be another day in the #welllife. Sorry, last time it was an efficiency exercise.

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Post ID: @192+1kvzmcb0d

@cv It says they are making the best out of a bad situation, great for the investors which is most important in WF's opinion.

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Post ID: @ey+1kvzmcb0d

Global survey official results: 67% (company wide) of WF employees would seriously consider leaving if they have the option. Look around you, 2 out of 3 are still here because the job market su-ks! What does that say about WF?

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Post ID: @cv+1kvzmcb0d

@c6 other guy said it best, who gives a fu-k if wells is bloated according to your metric, or a bad investment. If you work here, your primary concern should be if this is a good place to work or not. Spending the better part of a decade with no job security and a c-suite that's actively hostile to worker concerns is beyond corrosive to morale. What's it matter if we get to 180k if everyone left is completely mentally checked out and all your institutional knowledge has been gutted?

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Post ID: @c9+1kvzmcb0d

Wells is bloated. Like it or not, a company without the global footprint of its rivals AND a 200K+ headcount is inefficient. They didn’t eliminate enough redundancies during the Wachovia acquisition, over hired during pandemic, pay better than their peers, and have a ridiculously large and seemingly never ending litigation tab. Dispute the method, but this is the can getting kicked so far down the road, it’s at a dead end now. 177-182K seems about right.

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Post ID: @c6+1kvzmcb0d

You never cut your way to growth.

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Post ID: @by+1kvzmcb0d

@as Well I am an investor so many thanks for delivering such an insightful look at just how well this company is doing in reducing costs. They should award you a huge bonus for providing a glowing report on this major achievement. Much appreciation. Oh BTW, how is it there, anything to report?

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Post ID: @b1+1kvzmcb0d

So... headed for bankruptcy we are?

I mean it's true, shrinking companies die

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Post ID: @ax+1kvzmcb0d

@an i DGAF if wells fargo is a good investment, I care if its a good place to work or not

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Post ID: @as+1kvzmcb0d

@OP Is it at all possible that investors looking at your posted investigative results here. come to the conclusion that WF sure looks like a great investment considering they are so prolific at doing more with less?

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Post ID: @an+1kvzmcb0d

those three examples have something else in common.

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Post ID: @ae+1kvzmcb0d

@a7 offshored jobs still count in the total HC.

OP - it will continue. the AI-washing is happening right now. HC is going nowhere but down.

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Post ID: @ac+1kvzmcb0d

Offshoring jobs is certainly not helping the bank.

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Post ID: @a7+1kvzmcb0d

Their pitch on LinkedIn needs to be a “A leading provider of job loss.”

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Post ID: @a3+1kvzmcb0d

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