IT Location Strategy (Layoffs) announced to Managers last week

The major IT layoffs, disguised as "location strategy," are going to be announced to all of IT by Tracy Kerrins on 2/27. All managers were notified of the "strategy" last week; however, no lists of affected people were communicated.

The strategy is that they want to bring everyone back into the office in 8 US hub cities between now and the end of 2026 in multiple waves. The hub cities are: San Francisco, New York City, Dallas, Charlotte, Phoenix, Minneapolis, Des Moines, and Columbus, OH.

Anyone not in one of those hub cities will be affected, whether you work in a small WF office or from home. There are three options: displacement (with standard severance), relocation offer (they will pay to move you to a hub city), or exception. Everyone that has a WFH exception today will be re-reviewed and will have to requalify to not be in one of those 8 cities. They will not be automatically offering you relocation for you to choose to take or not, they could just choose to flat-out displace you. If they do offer you relocation and you choose not to take it, you will be eligible for the standard severance package.
Wave 1 will be next month (March) and they will be starting with the cities/locations that have the smallest number of employees. So if you are remote working in the mountains of Wyoming, you will be in wave 1. The second wave will be in Quarter 3, 2024.
The waves will continue from locations with the least amount to the greatest number of people. Even employees in those 8 hubs that are currently approved to work remote, will be re-reviewed and need a new exception to continue working remote.

I hope this information helps people plan for the massive layoffs the CEO was talking about in December!

Comment! It's anonymous!

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All part of a fire American hire Indian strategy —look at all the offshoring high pay jobs going to India ..all control
Functions ..won’t be surprised if TK relocates to Bangalore

Agile in a room is best for IT folks - who says... Enjoy guys or suffer

@1eyw+1rbK9mhO

Not mention nuero diverse folks, who simply function much more efficiently outside a 1980s office environment. I can and will work in an office to keep my severance, but my production speed and quality will be garbage. If they don't care, I don't care, I guess. See ya by the water cooler. FHY.

@1tzz+1rbK9mhO

"Specialty market" is code for "we'll get to you next". They won't last long. Once they are gone they'll start whittling down the "core" locations.

So, they can pay executives $29 mil a year but let’s lay off some of the players that keep WF secure. Cool. Cool.

Oh wait let’s do one better… let’s sing diversity and inclusion from the rafters but displace anyone who has a medical WFH exemption…cool. Cool cool cool.

I heard Stl was just added as a hub a month or so ago.

The only thing new about the location strategy is the enforcement of it. The core and specialty markets have been posted on the Technology Workplace page for more than a year and haven’t changed.

Another thread with incorrect/incomplete summarizations. There are still specialty markets. Those markets will be impacted by this but it’s not a “non-hub you’re out” situation. Speciality markets will continue to exist

Columbus, OH?

Q3 is Jul-Sep.

When does Q3 start?

@1kvn+1rbK9mhO Saul said back then it was “on hold” because of the pandemic. Now, back to the plan…..

@1jru+1rbK9mhO

Not immediately (maybe later this year) because many locations are still remodeling and need swap space to shuffle people around during construction.

Non-medical exception in a hub: impossible.

Exception not near a hub: next to impossible. The person would have to be a recognized industry expert in a niche field.

For those that are currently remote in a hub, was a specific time frame given as to when those employees would have to return to the office or would that occur with waves?

How hard will it be to get an exception? Some tech groups are 50%+ remote. Will managers be able to just protect their "favorites"?

Official FAQ: Most displaced positions will be reposted in a core market.

Truth: Most displaced positions will be reposted in India.

San Francisco is a hub???

So folks from NJ office, will move to NY office with a NY pay! YAY!

What happens to employees in cities designated as speciality markets? Will it be the same 3 buckets, just in a later wave in 2025-2026?

Finally, since its inception in 2018, it's going to reach me.

Go Workplace Strategy! You can do it!

This sounds just like the same strategy a few years back that never happened.

They’ve already started. WF has lost a lot of talent. It’s so sad. I’m in a hub city and over half of my team in another city were let go. I don’t even know if my job is safe!

They can fu-k right off

My BH itches!

I'm open to suggestions, comments, questions, etc.

(H = hole)

No STL? Shocked only because there is a decent population there and they work closely with WIM. Maybe a specialty market?

Thank you!

Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

IT Location Strategy (Layoffs) announced to Managers last week

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