Voluntary layoff list - your experience/observations? - post regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

Voluntary layoff list - your experience/observations?

I'm not sure if the entire bank has this option, but at least some depts do.

We were told months ago that if we want to be voluntarily laid off (it was worded slightly friendlier as you'd expect), then we'd just need to tell our manager, and our name would go on a list.

I know for sure that some people signed up and were subsequently laid off, and these were not trivial roles. (I didn't know these people well enough to ask them about it.)

Given the current atrocious corporate job market, I don't really want to do this, but I hate my life and have been hating it for way too long (due to no/poor leadership at Wells). I don't have many, many years with the bank so my severance would be rather modest.

So, just asking my manager for more details, but not committing to anything, will still be perceived as me wanting to leave. It'll be me showing my hand, and I'll feel like I have a target on my back, under a microscope to make sure I'm still working hard, possibly given the sacrificial inconsistently meets, etc.

So I'm wondering if anyone has direct knowledge or experience with how voluntary layoffs go? I'm wondering about what the timeline was between telling one's manager and getting the axe, how things transpired in between, etc.

Just any info you're willing to share. Even though your experience isn't a guarantee that mine would be the same, it'll still be helpful.

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11 replies (most recent on top)

I made it no secret I wanted to be laid off & while not the first, I def was freed strategically over others… couldn’t be happier

I contemplated doing the same thing. I am at the end of anything here at WF, have alot of time in, and would retire if laid off. Through various team convo's, our ages slipped out so he should know where my situation is going. I hope that is all the hint my mgr needs but I am not holding my breath.

it just depends....

while I got whacked involuntarily, I have heard stories of people being letting known. if they are going to be whacked........

You should feel very fortunate OP. In 99% of this company there is no option to volunteer, and often the execs mercilessly term those that are desperate to stay, while leaving those inwardly praying for severance to continue on like zombies.

OP here, it's not a scam.

At least two people (and at least one of them in leadership) did exactly that. I knew them by name but didn't know them well enough to ask questions (they were basically gone within a day anyway).

I'm aware that employees have asked for voluntary layoff and have been told no. Maybe it's LOB dependent, or maybe something has quietly changed. I don't know.

I'm in CL, but would rather not get any more specific.

The fact that no one knows what I'm talking about leads me to believe that it's a micro-climate thing where I'm at.

Don't even ask your manager if they're accepting volunteers. I inquired last year, and while I was told voluntary layoffs weren't a thing anywhere in the bank, I unexpectedly found myself kicked off the stagecoach a few months later -- apparently because I'd simply asked about it.

This is a total BS post. HR already said multiple times you can’t volunteer to be laid off. OP is just running a lame psyop against his coworkers.

Life is way too precious to hate it. Take a leave of absence. Maybe go bartending somewhere. Maybe go back to school to change careers. Getting laid-off might not solve your unhappiness though....

WF is making every effort to not pay severance. They want you to "quit" instead. They are pushing forced attrition such as RTO, fake performance review, etc. So no, they will not accept your term.

It's not fake news. This post is serious.

Keep your immature comments to yourself.

Fake news

Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

Voluntary layoff list - your experience/observations?

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