Wells Fargo CEO Says More Job Cuts Coming at the Bank as AI Prompts 'Efficiency' (charlotteobserver.com)
- Reference: 0180356373
- News link: https://slashdot.org/story/25/12/10/1840244/wells-fargo-ceo-says-more-job-cuts-coming-at-the-bank-as-ai-prompts-efficiency
- Source link: https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article313554602.html
> "As we've gone through the budgeting process, and even pre AI, we do expect to have less people as we go into next year," Scharf said at the Goldman Sachs Financial Services Conference in New York City.
>
> "We'll likely have more severance in the fourth quarter." The fourth quarter runs Oct. 1 through Dec. 31 for the San Francisco-basaed bank. Wells Fargo already has shrunk from 275,000 employees to about 210,000 since Scharf joined the bank in 2019 -- about a 24% decrease. Its largest employee base remains in Charlotte, with about 27,000 workers.
[1] https://www.charlotteobserver.com/news/business/article313554602.html
Now that's a plan. (Score:4, Insightful)
AI could replace a few dozen C-level execs and save as much money as firing thousands of peons.
Re:Now that's a plan. (Score:5, Insightful)
Amazing how execs are so valuable and unique that they can't be replaced by AI. I could see many millions saved for just a few of these dead weights.
Re: (Score:3)
So, SO true!
I'm constantly frustrated by the work situation I'm in now. The company keeps growing by acquisitions/partnerships and expanding its need for I.T. support. But there's zero interest in increasing head-count for the "rank and file" people doing the sysadmin or support work. Meanwhile, they've added 2 mangers for the department and both do little besides holding numerous meetings that feel like discovery sessions. They continually ask questions to try to understand pretty basic I.T. concepts and p
Re: (Score:2)
You'd be amazed at how little effect firing execs actually has over the option of firing a bunch of low level worker bees .
Fire 1 exec for 12 Million salary
OR
Layoff 250 worker bees and save 25 million in salary expenses .
Nobody cares about workers at the level where these decisions are made.
Filed Under: "One is a tragedy, a million is a statistic" - Stalin (allegedly)
Re: (Score:2)
Oh, but it's coming! There are right now a few companies recruiting executives in order to train AI for C-level work. Only the very top of the cream will be safe.
Moe Layoffs, More AI BS (Score:1)
Wells Fargo is using AI as a fig leaf for layoffs. There is minimal AI adoption here. Check their quarterly SEC filing for official guidance.
If prices aren't efficient (Score:1)
Does "efficiency" mean not what you think it mesns, but "we get to do what we like, efficiently, without rationality stopping us"?
What effect does this new definition of "efficiency" have on mainstream economic theory? Is it time to put it in the dustbin of history?
Will be funny to see when the LLM hype collapses (Score:2)
And nobody can afford these things anymore and idiots like this one need to scramble to undo their bad ideas.
Re: Will be funny to see when the LLM hype collaps (Score:2)
After the crash, they'll have to do even more layoffs.
AIE (Score:4, Insightful)
Isn't this just a new way to justify enshitification. The new reality is that you can't speak to a human at all. Press 2 to be asked the same questions again.
Nothing to do with AI (Score:1, Offtopic)
Trump's trade war that he started so he could offset billionaire tax cuts with tariffs is crashing the economy. Manufacturing is down 20%.
We can't stop the trade war because the only way Trump could ram those billionaire tax cuts through is using the budget process and that required a revenue neutral approach on paper and if you're going to cut 2 trillion dollars in taxes for billionaires you can't really do revenue neutral.
So to get there he made up numbers around the tariffs. If he does away with t
Never (Score:2)
Never trust anything banks, or bankers, tell you. It's all BS. Money has a way of twisting ethics and morals.
Bullsh*t (Score:2)
There is no way they are using AI for anything terribly important. I bet itâ(TM)s all projects around the periphery, with some showing promise, and many others not.
They must have a lot of extra employees.
So the billionaires are dismantling capitalism (Score:2)
And y'all won't allow socialism. So what's the actual alternative?
Can't have capitalism anymore because the billionaires won't allow it and they have more than enough power and money to do away with it.
And we can't have socialism because well, that's socialism!
So what exactly is the plan?
Most accountants (Score:2)
don't do much and are still working out of excel (my sample size is 3 accountants two of which work in a big 4 company). It doesn't take much to be a financial wizard when you can start to automate stuff. AI is enabling accountants to be somewhat dangerous at coding.
Just a RIF? (Score:5, Insightful)
More and more I am wondering if these AI "initiatives" are just an excuse to reduce headcount and figure things out later, rather than an actual commitment.
Re: (Score:1)
Exactly. Check the SEC quarterly filing for the official guidance on AI adoption.
Re: (Score:3)
> More and more I am wondering if these AI "initiatives" are just an excuse to reduce headcount and figure things out later, rather than an actual commitment.
It's a bit of both. They really think AI will eat those jobs, and they're almost certainly right. It's just a matter of getting the timeline, and better to be early than late on big defining trends.
The glorified scripting that we're calling AI, along with other automation and robotics, is going to end entire categories of jobs, with nothing visibly in sight to replace them. Unless you can get governments to mandate make-work positions, there's really no way to stop the waves of layoffs that are coming.
Re: (Score:2)
Yes. They are. Your wondering is exactly correct - this is not an open question, AI is leading to a 0% reduction in headcount. It is just an excuse.
Re: Just a RIF? (Score:2)
Im not sure that's entirely correct, AI is leading to a loss in customer support roles. Very much to the detriment of the customer. Most places seem to be rolling out AI chat bots instead of humans and they're considerably more limited in their capability. I haven't seen any indication of "AI"s ability to replace anything otherwise yet.