Guy requests raise from WF CEO via email, cc's 200k people

[TheAdvocate]

Tell me more why you feel entitled to $10K that belongs to retirees?

If he wanted to do something smart, he'd ask for wells fargo to support corporate education programs, so he can gain skills that will allow him to clear more than $13/hr.

Wells does sponsor these. And low level employees who have very high performance ratings have taken advantage of them.

Yet, despite making the effort to improve their skillset and continuing to post high performance scores in reviews, they find that their application for an internal hire position is lost in a stack of hundreds of other internal applicants. (I can tell you for certain that Wells is routinely closing listings when they reach 70 and 80 applications, shutting out dozens or hundreds of potential applicants - and these are just internal applicants).

There is only so much they can do.

Meanwhile, no on is addressing why an A/A+ performer at that bank may have cumulatively had a single digit raise in their pay after 6 & 7 years on the job, despite the profits the bank is posting.

Also, to those decrying the cost of acquisition of another bank. BB&T's John Allison wrote an MBA thesis that became BB&T's M&A strategy for the last few decades. The paper discussed how to profit via acquisition, and the formula, reduced it its simplest elements is: retain as many of the loans and customers as you can, cut all the employees, and take the tax writeoffs and any other govt handouts you get. Stick the bad loans in a "bad bank" and watch the cash roll in. BB&T has prospered under this strategy. Their employees and customers maybe not so much.

Finally, stockholder dividends are important - yet Wells' dividend is not that strong. Relative to BofA (still troubled), yes. But relative to other major corps... not really. Why is that?

 

[Carson Dyle]

The banking industry is notorious for both low wages at the entry level, and for very, very slow employee advancement. I've known people who have given up after 8 or 10 years, still making barely a living wage, but I also know a couple of guys who've stuck it out and become very well paid VPs after 20 or so years.

 

[brianmanahan]

thats why you gotta switch companies every few years

 

[Markbnj]

The banking industry is notorious for both low wages at the entry level, and for very, very slow employee advancement. I've known people who have given up after 8 or 10 years, still making barely a living wage, but I also know a couple of guys who've stuck it out and become very well paid VPs after 20 or so years.

It also depends what part of the bank you're in. Consumer banking is generally a dead end. Finance is where the big potential lies.

 

[Kadarin]

He's been there 7 years and is still only making $15/hr? He should make better decisions with his life.

 

[TheAdvocate]

thats why you gotta switch companies every few years

Consolidation has limited opportunities. Example: Wells is really Norwest + Wells Fargo + First Union + Wachovia, plus dozens of smaller banks.

Competition, if it existed, would be an acceptable answer. The problem is, the jobs are consolidated in too few companies. Add in geography and you've got further barriers to deal with.

Like most issues, it's never as clear cut and easy as the simple retorts usually paint it to be.

Also, I want to say that there are a lot of things that Wells does right from an operational standpoint. This criticism is just one facet of their management strategy. It does not mean they are an evil company, or even a bad one. Their risk appetite and business practices were the reason they were the best capitalized bank and one that was actually forced to take TARP (they didn't need or want it). Capitalization, as defined by the FDIC has everything to do with risk tiers of their assets. They have strong Tier 1 capitalization due to sound lending practices.

 

[Rakehellion]

his point was "you guys make a lot of money, give us some!"

Exactly.

A sense of entitlement is not a marketable skill.

 

[DCal430]

Horrible how you have so many bank employees who barely make enough to live, yet you also have these grossly overpaid bank employees who make 1000+ a day, 365 days a year. So much disparity.

 

[brianmanahan]

Horrible how you have so many bank employees who barely make enough to live, yet you also have these grossly overpaid bank employees who make 1000+ a day, 365 days a year. So much disparity.

the CEO started out as a teller

 

[FelixDeCat]

no

 

[mcbaes72]

Tell me more why you feel entitled to $10K that belongs to retirees?

If he wanted to do something smart, he'd ask for wells fargo to support corporate education programs, so he can gain skills that will allow him to clear more than $13/hr.

I was thinking along these lines. Unless WF already has something like this in place and he's too lazy to pursue it. Still, I have little sympathy for those that do little in their career, yet feel they "deserve" a raise simply by working there a few years.

Further their education, look for another job, etc. Then, there's the cost-saving part like bringing leftovers for lunch the next day instead of eating out, instead of driving to work and paying for monthly parking, take public transportation like bus or train (some companies offer partial reimbursement), etc.

There's other options he could pursue if he really wanted to.

 

[Kaido]

my previous company prevented this from happening with the main group, but some woman found a bunch of smaller groups (last name A to B, B to C, etc) and added all of them on a scathing email about why she hated the company and was quitting.

that was one of the most memorable afternoons working there ever. employee productivity went through the floor until closing time

also, they DIDN'T prevent someone from using that group to invite people to sametime chat. so we had a convo one morning with thousands of people in the same chat. :awe:

Hahaha this could be made into a short movie, that's awesome

 

[MrCassdin]

He's been there 7 years and is still only making $15/hr? He should make better decisions with his life.

Yeah, have to agree.

You have to change jobs if you want a raise. No one gets a raise anymore.

It doesn't matter if you start at 30K or 100K, the chances of you going much higher than 15% from that number while retaining the same job responsibilities, even after 10 years, it small. You have to change jobs to get more $$$. Stupid people don't understand this and email the company CEO.

 

[brianmanahan]

Hahaha this could be made into a short movie, that's awesome

the chat was hilarious. so many people were outraged by it, and even though they could just close the window and move on with their lives, they wanted to raise a big stink first.

i told myself that i would be the last person to leave. i had to stay late (almost 6:00) but eventually i was the last person out of 2000+ in the chat window!

i was so proud i jokingly put it on my year-end review writeup.

 

[Balt]

I wonder how many people clicked "Reply All"

 

[disappoint]

And I will let you know that the Wells brass is very aware of it, and while they will handle it as slickly and professionally as they can - they know that they potentially face very steep public repercussions for their choices in recent years. They will never ever publicly admit this.

Steep public repercussions? These guys lobbied to have laws passed in their favor, and they are aware that the public is too busy looking at jpgs of Kim Kardashian's bubble butt or Justin Bieber's forehead combover to make a fuss over the underemployed or underpaid.