From what I heard Friday STS bonus funding will start to see cuts this year with the goal to "restructure" the funding altogether. A certain MD who is retiring within two years told me they think the days of bonuses as we know it are being taken away forever. The firm will use the current climate as an excuse to cut more and more benefits from the average employee. They also mentioned Simon's desire to effectively ki-l remote work as another item to watch play out over the next 18 months. Whilst this is commonly known by many in STS now it will be interesting to watch how this affects an already toxic workplace culture at Schwab. Most people I know have really struggled over this past year to cope with the lack of the firm transparency and poor leadership.
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Unfortunately you were wrong
@5rra+1mRW9lRd this. Employees not honoring their WFP commitment should be the least of their worries.
@5hmw+1mRW9lRd I tend to agree. If Dennis, Tim and anyone a few levels below them realized how many people do the bare minimum or less they'd be floored.
Implement widespread PIP like real fintechs and FAANG.
If Schwab really wanted to reduce headcount without layoffs, all they’d have to do is implement mandatory dr-g testing for existing employees.
They’d no doubt say goodbye to many employees (and they know this) - that’s why they only have policy for new employees.
Not suggesting they should but it’s a reality that they could.
We have three project managers for every project, maybe 1 of whom actually knows how to manage a project. Meanwhile my team of people who do actual work got cut in half and told that it's 'positioning us for operating at scale'...
@3cht+1mRW9lRd 6000 is absurdly stupid. TDA teams were so much leaner, efficient and actually agile.
I agree we have too many people in the wrong roles. We also seem to be fat in a lot of areas and light in so many others. If the numbers I hear are correct there are around 6000 employees in STS. Doesn't that seem absurd? They could easily cut a fairly large percentage and still function at least as efficiently as we do now(I know we aren't very efficient). It's time to thin the heard, especially all of the unnecessary paper pushers and meeting coordinators. Those who are left can have their bonuses and raises.
@2ofj+1mRW9lRd
Very believable that in May they are coming up with bonus and salary raise percentages for January 2024
They could save so much more by reevaluating all existing employees. Half of my team is severely lacking the required skills and do not qualify for their current role. Our team could get more done in the same amount of time with a 75% reduction and we're not the only team in this boat.
“Mandatory 4 days in office” - How to achieve headcount reductions without paying severance/unemployment.
Realistically - sounds more like FUD than fact. But even if it was 3 days a week, Schwab could easily lose 25% of their staff. Plus you’d have an instant brain drain.
Latest is bonus targets will be ~5-7%. Base increase on hold. Tough year so we all have to cinch our belts. I think the move to mandatory 4 days in office will make some people angry.
Do you have any more details on what this restructuring of the bonus looks like? Currently we're look at a target of 15% or 20% depending on your grade and performance. Are they looking to lower the target percentage across the board, or make it harder to hit those targets; i.e. you have get highest marks in order to hit your target?
Some people focus on the bonus changes and how they consistently failed to do what they said they were going to do. My personal favorite though is when they took away the Tda employee recognition program and when people complained they basically said well we didn't take the money away we just spread it amongst more people. Second place is the insurance getting worse almost across the board and all the ways that was spun.
You got a point. I can’t think of one leader in I&O that is even remotely intelligent. I’d settle for mediocre but they aren’t even that. I guess they really are a reflection of Simon. What a tw-t!
Schwab needs new leadership. The current group are stale, out of touch with their employees and only care about their stock options
Despicable what they have turned this company into
Good luck to Schwab if they go down this road. The bonus funding and working from home are the only things we employees have to hold on to from the remnants of what was a great company to work for. Taking that away shuts the door on this firm for me. What would be the reason to continue to work in a toxic environment like this?
Most of my friends at Schwab are burnt out mostly due to being overworked and how difficult it is to get things done here. Just about everyone I know is only hanging on because of the ability to work from home. Heck just about everyone on my team moved out of the city or even state they were in before WFH was allowed. If they take that option away from us many will leave. I'm not sure what the firm is thinking by doing this. I know Simon hates it but it's the reality of the world we live in now. We proved we can be top performing employees while working from home. I personally have saved probably $20 k per year being allowed this option. No way am I taking my kids to daycare