Thread regarding Wells Fargo & Co. layoffs

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they did away with the seating reservation system because... it got abused. people would reserve space and then not come in, other people would not be able to find a spot to reserve and then would work from home, etc.

I love it!

Well put...

Love open seating!

@em+1jpmqnp97

False choice when we could have WFH and save the company billions of $, if we didn't have insufferable kuntz running this place.

"It’s so quiet in here"

No way you have open seating if it's that quiet. I can't hear myself think most days and even noise cancelling headphones only do so much when it comes to the dozens of people around me all on calls.

Tbh I really miss the high walled cubes because at least you get some level of privacy and a little bit of a sound barrier- this open cube bs just makes everyone try to scramble for a focus/office/conference room. A lot of work that most of us do involves either total concentration or talking on meetings. I’m sorry this whole open model only works with teams that don’t have meetings and are all co-located - which we all know ain’t going to happen since most of colleagues are in India/philippines or at least multiple time zones away.

I rather have open seating with flexibility, than have an assigned cube and forced to be in it for 8 hours every single day. 🤷‍♀️

I work very closely with my manager regarding staffing. As payback to the company for open seating, the people around me will hear things they may or may not want to hear. My boss calls without setting up a time and all of the places with doors are always taken alllll dayyyy long, so sc--w it. No privacy for me, no privacy for WF. I have someone 3-4’ across from me and 2-3’ next to me. I hate it soo much. It’s inhumane to try to work with people like this. On meetings I have to be on mute until I need to talk because the background commotion is so loud it sounds like I’m at an Indian call center.

At our place they don’t even supply wipes and I’m not subsidizing this company by bringing my own. The desks are gross. I see the cleaners walking around wiping down the cabinets along the outside of the cubes- you know, the things that never get used or touched. Great to know they are clean. I have yet to see anyone cleaning a desk. Chairs are broken. Maybe I should wash the keyboard in the sink during my shift so it’s clean. Except I saw a guy gargling and spitting in the coffee room sink. Ba-f.

Man up and get used to change.

@bx you're just providing incentive to push back and tank your bullsh-t metric.

You all need to do the needful and su-k it up and hit the RTO
Metric

OP, other than mentioning the computer screens, I swear you could be talking about working in the bathroom.

I bring my own wipes, key board, and mouse

We do have some same people around and wipes are around. I deep clean every other week, including the chair- so much dust on every chair. I taped the cords and wires- we've have equipment moved to other locations because they didn't like the pop-up camera.

There is no seating strategy that makes sense for ALL employees/teams, but CPG is gonna hammer that square peg into a round hole come he-l or high water. That's the real issue. Forcing it when it makes zero sense is what tanks morale, and that's why it doesn't get better. Getting "used to" being lied to, ignored, and devalued isn't a thing. It just gets more depressing. Been doing this stupid S for 3 years now. It's a complete waste of time and resources, and damn every one of the ivory tower Fs that do this S to us.

I feel fine

https://www.businessinsider.com/jpmorgan-rto-leaked-memo-polaris-employees-columbus-parking-dining-2025-3

I do not like feeling displaced, or under valued. Most everyone on here is correct in one way or another. You can't even begin to get comfortable, because guess what the next week different desk , different surroundings, what happened to Wells Fargo as a whole. No one seems happy anymore, it use to be the friendliness I enjoyed, it seems so segregated, and most employees unhappy in many ways. I love what I do , but these changes with seating , uncertainty, segregation makes me sad. Then on top of it all many jobs going to Philippines and India as part of global expansion, what about those that have dedicated themselves to Wells Fargo here in the US. It's such a cold environment anymore. 🤧.

Right - the days of feeling comfortable, and were your valued as a person are over. I rather enjoy the open seating because at least its being honest about your worth, which is basically nothing. You are not unique and can easily be replaced. If you want privacy, just find an empty conference room. There are plenty. I believe the only reason we are forced to come into the office is because the the property value of all these empty offices would tank if there were no one in them. The only people I talk to here are friends, and it's never about work. All the people I work with are in different states and countries. It completely dysfunctional, which want typically makes sense these days. When I'm in the office, I usually waste more time than when I'm at home. Try to find the silver lining, and don't work too hard. You'll be replaced eventually with someone or something cheaper. So enjoy thr paychecks while they last! I agree with the guy who sits next to the hot chick's. What else is there to look forward to in the office.

In some locations people are territorial. For a newcomer it is like playing a game to find a spot and not offend someone by sitting in "their" unassigned cube.

As someone who recently moved and now sits at Chandler, it's certainly depressing, distracting and not very enjoyable. I went to 4 different desks to find one with working equipment last week. It's always loud but there is no collaborating happening. Everyone just spends all day on the phone. The desks don't seem to get cleaned very often. Paper is always out in the printers. Although I will say on my floor everyone is basically gone by 1 PM so it's much better after that.

Its also cool as i dont get stuck next to curry dude fir more than a day!!!

Whoever made open seating in the restrooms should be deported. All I see are a bunch leprechauns hanging around. Fcking Ir1sh

Sounds like a permanent desk is more important to you than hybrid. Tell your manager you are wanting to come to the office 5 days a week and that you would like a permanent desk.

Problem solved, no more crying.

Everything everyone has already said x 100. Demoralizing, impersonal, disgusting, soul crushing and the total OPPOSITE of collaborative. Complete sham.

@ab

BINGO!

"...if the setup’s chaotic—no fixed spots, no quiet zones—it’s psychological abuse by design. You’re not safe to think, let alone innovate...Get the layout wrong, and you’re not just losing productivity—you’re torching morale."

When I used to sit in Ballantyne I could reserve my desk in advance. That way I can at least stay somewhat consistent. What ever happened to that system?
Like one of the commenters said, not having a seat makes people feel like they are wandering in the desert with no real home. Major fail on leadership, yet again.

Welcome to the misery and it doesn't get better. RTO for collaboration when nobody talks to anyone at that location the entire time they are in office. Just a bunch of mice scurrying around trying to find a decent place to work only to be on conference calls all day doing what we could do more efficiently remotely. We all know it's BS.

Wells Fargo's office setup—or any company’s—misses the mark if it doesn’t get the human piece right. Tom DeMarco nailed this in Peopleware way back in the ‘80s. He was all about low-rise cubes—not the soul-crushing high-walled boxes, but something open enough so people could see and talk to each other naturally. His point? Teams need to jell, and that happens when you’ve got visibility and easy interaction, not when you’re stuck in isolation or drowned in open-plan noise. But he warned it has to be done right—randomize seating or skip assigned spots, and you lose your anchor. No place to hang your hat means no identity, no ownership, and that ki-ls team vibe fast.
Fast-forward to Agile, and it’s the same deal. That HBR piece from ’22 (Agile Doesn’t Work Without Psychological Safety) says Agile flops without a culture where people can speak up, mess up, and not get burned for it. DeMarco was on this train before Agile was even a buzzword—his jelled teams are basically what Agile wants: tight-knit groups that trust each other. Low-rise cubes could help, letting you eyeball your crew and shoot ideas around without booking a Zoom. But if the setup’s chaotic—no fixed spots, no quiet zones—it’s psychological abuse by design. You’re not safe to think, let alone innovate.
Wells Fargo's hybrid push or whatever they’re cooking up needs to look at this. DeMarco saw that office design isn’t just furniture—it’s how you enable or sc--w over the human side. Agile’s promise of ‘individuals and interactions’ falls flat if the space (or the bosses) turns it into a free-for-all or a pressure cooker. Get the layout wrong, and you’re not just losing productivity—you’re torching morale. Anyone here stuck in a cube farm or hot-desking he-l? How’s it hitting your team?"

I guess the country as a whole have learned nothing since covid. We've (as society) have basically went back to what it was before with everyday living.

What will be bad this time around though, is we know what can happen when a pandemic strikes and know what to do and how severe things can get but we failed to prepare. This time worse off, since all if the mistrust and misinformation in that era of time.
We are going to end up right back in the same boat we were before with this kind of thing.

Yeeeeaaahhhh...Uh, we're gonna be having more open seating available down in the basement, so starting tuh-mar-row, you can just go ahead and find somewhere to work down there....m'kay? Oh and hey, if you'd make sure to bring your own roll of toilet paper from now on, that'd be greaaat.

I really like it as i can sit next to new hot chicks daily!

Yeah you must be in a different building in Chandler. Building B has been unassigned for years now and I hate to say it but it doesn't get any better. The best advice I can offer you is find a quiet place (a closed office) or adjust your schedule to get there early to get the spot you want.

It does make you wonder, if the whole point of going to the office was for the culture and community, why do they have loud rando's sitting next to each day?

Nobody knows anyone or wants to talk to anyone because you have different neighbors regularly. Everyone is skeptical of each other in this environment.

"3 weeks since Chandler went to open seating" Where have you been? I've been dealing with the Chandler open seating disgusting sh*T show nightmare for over three years.

It always takes a few weeks to adjust, but it'll be fine.

What you didn't know is that Wells is one of the last few large companies to move to unassigned seating.

Welcome to the sh-tshow, Chandler friends.

just wait until computer equipment starts to go missing and things get unplugged. where I'm at I feel half the time I'm having to go to multiple desks to find one with a working dock and monitors.