Recommendations and advice on your thoughts are appreciated!
For awareness, I am a P4; remainder of my team are P5’s and P4’s.
I’m on a small team in Control Management and my manager recently told me that he has to let go of P5 and P4 level Business Control Management (BCM) employees (or entice them to leave) in order to hire P3’s and lower. Supposedly, BCMs that are P3 and lower will take on the more ‘admin’ type work while BCM P5 and P4 levels will work closely with the business. This is due to departments in Control Management being dismantled and their work moving into the BCM roles with little to no help to complete the additional work. If help is provided, the ‘help’ are resources in India which is difficult due to the time differences and experience/knowledge level. My peers and I have voiced our concerns of the pressure to ‘get the work done’ and our manager got agitated. Our manager was so agitated in fact that he told my peer “Maybe (name) and (name) don’t need to be BCMs anymore”. I am one of those ‘names’ our manager mentioned. Back in December, we were also told that ‘a storm is brewing’ and to ‘get our resumes in order’ by our manager. So what is going on? I went from being a go-to person my manager relied on to being someone he thinks shouldn’t be a BCM anymore. Are they putting pressure on us to see who withstands the pressure but also hoping people will leave on their own? Should I prepare for a displacement meeting based on these comments? Can/should I raise my hand to request displacement in order to stop my anxiety and worry? I’ll get 52 weeks of severance.
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This is not unique to your area. This has been across the board. They do not want to pay for highly educated and experienced employees. They want employees at the cheapest rate possible regardless of value to the company. One of the concerning related issues is the fact that most higher level employees (P4 and P5) are of a certain age group and tenure. I'm certain if it was fully reviewed, the overall majority of layoffs have been those aged 40 plus. WF continues to get away with despicable actions.
I think there is bloat with regards to “program mgmt” BCMs. However, there is a SHORTAGE in knowledgeable business - aligned BCMs. Why the latter is getting cut on the same scale as the former is beyond me.
Wells Fargo’s management is a bloated onion—too many layers, all stinking of inefficiency. Flatten it? He-l yes, but good luck with that when manager-to-manager bullying’s the norm now. Look at Control Management: P4s and P5s getting squeezed out for cheap P3s, workloads piling up, and if you complain? “Maybe you don’t need to be here,” snaps the boss. Psychological abuse much? Then there’s RTO—execs ram it down our throats while remote folks wait for the axe, proving the “location strategy” is just another buzzword mess.
This isn’t just bad org design; it’s a fear factory. No one’s safe to speak up—managers bully down, get bullied up, and we’re all caught in the crossfire. Where’s the psych safety when you’re told to “get your resume ready” or su-k it up with India’s “help” on a 12-hour time lag? It’s Wells Fargo’s old trick: pressure ‘til you break or bail. I’d say dig in, but with 52 weeks severance on the table, maybe it’s time to call their bluff and walk. Thoughts?
Why would we need as many in control as we did during RCSA phase 1 or 2? It’s all maintenance now
Good luck with that. I'm amazed how many P4's and P5's are close to useless. It's like how the f**k did you get to this level and be so clueless?
Over in CB BRE many P4-5 are being let go on 4/1 (myself included) even a few located in a core location. P3s get to stay. Not sure where you sit OP but prepare for the worst and hope for the best.
Pay me to leave, please. I feel like George Costanza when he worked for Play Now.
We're all facing pressure and I'm sure your manager is too. Could be that he's tired of hearing his team whine about it
Oh, look, Wells Fargo’s at it again—systematic unethical behavior is basically their brand at this point. That post nails it: layoffs aren’t about merit or performance, they’re about whatever narrative WF wants to spin now. Post-2016, they bloated up with control management, RCSA, and auditors—hiring sprees to flash a shiny “we’re compliant now!” badge at regulators. Worked for a bit, I guess, until the CFPB’s teeth got dulled and the new administration gave them a hall pass. Now? “Thanks for playing, compliance folks—door’s that way.”
The mess they’ve made is unreal—hundreds of pages of policy manuals that no one reads, drowning in audit checklists and spreadsheets. It’s a clunky, outdated mess screaming for a modern platform and tools to streamline it. But nah, that’d make too much sense for the “Wells Fargo Way.” They’d rather keep the chaos, axe whoever’s inconvenient, and call it progress. Same old story—profit over principle, and we’re all just collateral damage.
Just adding my manager (we are CSBB Ops) was denied promoting me from P4 to P5. Several other P5s in our group and he knows I contribute consistently at a higher level than some others, but HR said no more P5s - focus is to bring in people at P3 (and let P5 numbers decrease with attrition and stated policy enforcement).
If I was in your shoes I would study what other people have done. Look at SH. He got certified in Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy from MIT Sloan School of Management right before he left Wells for Truist. Looks like being joined by yet another Wells alumni. In control management Wells has never adopted or used any of the tools and platforms. They are too big to use a tool or adopt to a platform. Maybe they are waiting for the next crisis in order to justify this action. By then the other banks will have evolved to self adopting platforms and tools (via agentic AI). My advice to you is to quietly quit and upskill like SH did. Have AI read the job descriptions at the other banks, JPM, Truist, etc. Playing the survivor game at Wells is what you have to do now. I prefer to think of it more like playing the hunger games because there are no winners.
sources:
Artificial Intelligence: Implications for Business Strategy
MIT Sloan School of Management
https://www.linkedin.com/in/hagermansteve/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/allynshaw/
Yes, yes and maybe. I generally agree with digging your heels in and not giving in. I've seen enough of the tactics employed here on survivor island that it seems your manager is both giving you a warning that your time is near while applying heat to see if you'll leave w/o a package. Only you know how much you can withstand, but if you can, try to hold out and not ask for severance just yet. Take some PTO here and there so you have mental health days to help you think through your options and how you want to navigate this. If you have family, certainly involve them, and trusted friends or others who can offer perspectives not top of mind. Whatever you do, keep doing your job the best you can and ensure you're staying on top of stuff so you're not readily dinged over some stupid technicality. I understand the anxiety, and depending on how long you've been with this manager, he knows that too. He maybe using that here, counting on you to respond this way. Try to look at this as a means to start planning to do or go elsewhere eventually. Look, you might end up asking to be displaced, but let this play out more and ground yourself first so it's on your terms in that regard; and you leave with your dignity (and nerves) more intact. I already know I will be gone this year, so you're not alone in this. Keep your chin up and keep us posted. This too will pass.
Your manager getting testy about it means their job is on the line as well.
Our manager's behavior only changed when he began to be in jeopardy. Months later he told us he was on the chopping block but then they found/created a role for him once they had decided to do with us (broken up and moved to different teams).
Dig your heels in! Don't give in. I've been waiting over a year myself (non-hub). The work continues to su-k, they keep piling on more but I just get pushing buttons, telling them when they're being ridiculous and waiting for my turn. WF owes you for your commitment, don't let them win.