Thread regarding TIAA (TIAA-CREF) layoffs

Hopefully you listened and chose to stay with your current employer.

Keep applying to other firms if you need to but coming to TIAA now as full time associate instead any office other than Nuveen/Chicago, would be a huge mistake.

Unless you’re getting at least $25K more in salary and a 25%or more VC…

Who am I kidding no amount of money is worth it here. Losing talent left and right to other companies all over the world. Losing close to 1,000 from office closures…

soon 1 person will be doing the work of 5 people versus 2 sometimes 3 now. Likely more scrutiny around in office average so even less productivity due to having to meet that requirement and having “to do more with less” at a higher and faster pace with no raise.

F that. RUN - don’t walk back to your current employer or find a job elsewhere.

I started in 2015 and was laid off this year. The company has really gone downhill in the 10 years I was there. The future does not appear bright.

And I was very confident my job was safe. I was part of a small skilled unit that was very client facing, and we did a great job making our clients happy (big clients with over $1b in assets at tiaa). It made zero sense to mess with what we were doing. But that's exactly what happened. An absolutely awful business decision; they laid off the entire unit and outsourced, causing fear and disruption to these major clients. So even if you think you're safe, you aren't. Because a bozo that you've never spoken to in your life and doesn't understand a thing you or your unit does can come along and say it's being shuttered. He knows better.

Just run!!!!!!!!

@dh i agree. Tiaa's best days are behind it. Fidelity, Empower, Principal, Voya, Vestwell and the Human Interest are taking over. Tiaa's CEO makes $18M and does jack s-Hit.

Op here. Wow. Thanks everyone for the advice. Didn’t know about no salary increases. Not sure I can put up with so much negativity and stress here. Count me as one less Frisco associate to join here. I’m gonna decline the offer and if they ask why, I’ll mention reviews I saw on Glassdoor. Not sure it will help you all but that rating is pathetic. Sounds like the ceo and other executives here need to go!

@OP like anything in life, it is what you make it.
I recently left the company after 4 years. As I joked when I left, “I loved my team and hated the company”. YMMV

Like most large companies, there are major inefficiencies. Unfortunately, TIAA suffers from bloat and mismanagement from the top of the house. The company needs to increase revenue centric business lines while decreasing expenses and scaling technology to compete, which it hasn’t been able to do. The issues that plague the company as a whole probably won’t affect you directly in your daily routine unless you let them. Plus, TIAA needs butts in seats in Frisco to qualify for an $18mm State of Texas grant (why a multi-billion company is worrying about what is essentially a rounding error is a whole other issue…).

That said, there is volatility you’ll have to endure. Current associates are policed for in office attendance, haven’t received raises for the past three years (if making over $100k), and have to endure a very top-heavy, authoritarian leadership environment where L3 leaders and above are immune to criticism, salary freezes, and just a general attitude of superiority.

It’s been my experience that pay isn’t top quartile at TIAA but the “retirement” match is above average. However, vesting is at three years so you need to commit to at least that amount of time to retain that benefit (and keep your 401k match). As others have mentioned, the retirement is two pronged: guaranteed income (annuity) and a voluntary 401k with 3% company match. The annuity is the company’s and when you leave it stays with TIAA. “Unlimited PTO” is to the company’s benefit but it is nice assuming you utilize it.

My advice to people considering a move is to really do your due diligence and ensure you can commit to 3 years, knowing you’re joining a company that is having some serious financial issues and strategy pitfalls. If you can stomach that and think the pay is worth the bullsh-t, sign. If not, keep your current job and continue to look.

Don’t do it. I got laid off recently and I am sure there’s many more to come.

when I joined TIAA, I really liked the people to whom I interacted during interview. Actually they cannot control the Organization level decisions. And the organization is sc--wed up at nth level.

Just don't go to TIAA. I was at TIAA for over 10 years. The end result of your work will be absorbing the workload of the people who left your dept. If one person leaves, it is not terrible, however after 3 people leave, it is unbearable. You will not get a raise for taking on the workload, but may get an additional 1k added to your bonus - after taxes, that is $500 for doing the additional work of 3 people.

The meetings and emails never stop. After 5 hours of meetings (where maybe one hour was valid), you have to focus on your workload. This means you are working late.

Raises have not been given in years. There is a new scoring system for reviews. I would not anticipate this change to benefit the employee.

The PTO policy sounds good. Either you check emails during your vacation or come back to a nightmare to catch up. If you check emails, you really did not have time off.

TIAA is outsourcing. Will your role be safe? It would be a coin toss.

The retirement plan sounds good. However, it is an annuity. You cannot move it. You cannot take a large withdrawal. There are alot of "cannot" associated with it. I don't think employees understand it (I know I don't). Unless you stay at TIAA for a long time, it is kind of useless. If you leave with 10k, what will the payout be after 30 years of working? (not much)

Don’t be discouraged by what the people here are writing. If there is an external role hiring, you’ll be more safe than others. Of course your department matters, but it’s not as bad as everybody says. It’s just easy to voice exaggerated frustrations on an anonymous forum. Some people rightfully frustrated and others maybe not.

If you like the people you’ve interacted with and it’s a better compensation and benefit package than you have today, take the offer. I don’t work in the same department as most people on this website and never experienced any of their issues with leadership or otherwise.

Pay and Benefits are great. I'm still looking for external positions because this place is so toxic right now it's not worth it.

Doubt they’ll respond @b3 … since it wasn’t posted, maybe OP doesn’t want to out themselves and just wants to know if TIAA is good enough (same or better) then their current company.

My advice is negotiate a better offer than whatever TIAA gave you. You have a job so you have some leverage. See what you can get like more salary or a better start date etc.
But if it were me I’d decline, especially if the recruiter can’t meet or exceed your asks.

This place is not what it was 5, 10, or more years ago. So many associates want to leave here. Some will get that “wish” mostly in Denver. Others will be stuck with extra work from the loss of the Denver office. While some actually enjoy it here many others are brown-nosers and think or at least pretend that it’s perfect here.

It depends on the area you’re offering is for - both manger and job requirements for sure. But also ultimately depends on you if you’re a fit here and feel that the positives outweigh any negatives and is worth jumping to a new company.

Also compare your company to TIAA via Glassdoor, LinkedIn, or other sites versus this one where may people on here are too extreme on either side of the coin and post doom and gloom/fire and brimstone or happinesses sunshine and rainbows when sometimes this place feels more like purgatory or being stuck in line at the DMV all day.

@OP what role is this for ?