Recently, a 60 year old female employee of Wells Fargo passed away at her workstation and was only discovered a few days later.
According to US media reports, most of the employees of Wells Fargo located at the office are working remotely, but the building has security personnel on duty 24/7. The employee of the bank said, 'This is really heartbreaking. If I were sitting there, wouldn't anyone have noticed me?'
Photo by journalist Zheng Yuhang
Found dead a few days after entering the office building
According to Red Star News, Arizona police recently revealed that they are investigating a "death case in the office of a Wells Fargo employee". It is reported that the deceased employee was Denise, a 60 year old female employee of the bank. She entered the office building of Fuguo Bank at 7am on August 16th by swiping her documents and did not come out again until the security found her body on the 20th. A police spokesperson stated in an email statement on August 29th that no signs of murder have been found so far.
On August 20th, the security guard of the bank reported to the authorities that "someone fell", and the police arrived at the scene and confirmed that Denise had died. Another anonymous employee of the bank revealed that security guards discovered that Denise had died in her small booth while patrolling the building.
It is reported that Denise's office is located on the third floor of the building, far away from the main passage. A building employee said in an interview that everyone did complain about the odor in the hallway, but they all believed it was caused by pipeline problems.
According to employees, most of the staff located at the office are working remotely, but the building has security personnel on duty 24/7. Someone should have discovered Denise earlier, "said an employee, adding that the scariest part of the whole thing was this," which to some extent reflects the negligence of the security personnel.
After the incident, Wells Fargo stated in a statement that it regrets the passing of Denise and is fully cooperating with the police investigation.
According to reports, employees of Wells Fargo expressed their concerns anonymously, with some saying that although most employees in the office work remotely, Prudholm should have been discovered earlier because the building has a 24/7 security presence. An employee said that the most terrifying part of the whole thing is this, which to some extent reflects the negligence of security personnel. An employee said, "This is really heartbreaking. If I were sitting there, wouldn't anyone notice me? It makes me sick to hear her sitting in front of the office like that all along. No one did anything. This is the last time of her life
Buffett clears his position at Wells Fargo Bank
Wells Fargo was once the favorite of stock guru Warren Buffett. Buffett was once the largest shareholder of the bank, with a market value of up to $32 billion. In the first quarter of 2022, after holding for 33 years, Buffett liquidated his position in Wells Fargo. Industry insiders suggest that Buffett's reason for clearing his position at Wells Fargo may be due to his perception of the risks involved in the bank's operations and management.
Fuguo Bank was founded in 1852 and is headquartered in San Francisco, USA. Its main business is retail banking, supplemented by wholesale banking, investment banking, and personal finance. It once became the world's largest bank by market value.
According to the latest financial report, in the second quarter of 2024, Wells Fargo's total revenue was 20.689 billion yuan, compared to 20.53 billion US dollars in the same period last year; Net profit of 4.91 billion US dollars, a year-on-year decrease of 0.57%; The company's net interest income was $11.92 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 9%, mainly due to rising deposit costs and declining loan balances, lower than the average analyst expectation of $12.1 billion.
Wells Fargo has updated its 2024 guidance and expects non interest expenses to reach approximately $54 billion in 2024, higher than the previously expected $52.6 billion. Net interest income may decrease by approximately 7% to 9% compared to the full year 2023 of $52.4 billion.
The latest market value of Fuguo Bank is $199 billion, approximately RMB 1.41 trillion.
According to CCTV Finance, Fuguo Bank fired more than ten employees in May this year, citing the discovery that these people were "pretending to be actively working". This bank revealed to the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority this week that these employees belong to the wealth and investment management department and have decided to dismiss them after an investigation found that they used a keyboard simulator to disguise their proactive work. During an interview, Wells Fargo stated that the bank will never tolerate unethical behavior. However, the US financial regulatory agency did not disclose whether the laid-off employees were suspected of pretending to work actively from home. It is reported that in early 2022, Wells Fargo required most employees to return to the office and adopt a "hybrid flexible mode" for working from home. In addition, this type of equipment that imitates employee work is relatively inexpensive and can be purchased online.
Since 2023, many large financial institutions around the world have announced layoffs due to profit pressures caused by capital market volatility and rapidly rising interest rates. According to a report by the six major Wall Street banks, in 2023, in addition to JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citibank, Goldman Sachs, and Morgan Stanley will all lay off employees. Among them, Wells Fargo's global workforce will decrease by 12000, Citigroup will lay off 5000, Morgan Stanley will lay off 4800, Bank of America will lay off 4000, and Goldman Sachs will lay off 3200. Overall, major Wall Street firms will lay off nearly 30000 employees in 2023.
It is worth noting that some major banks will continue to expand their layoffs in the future. According to a recent report by The Wall Street Journal, Citigroup plans to cut approximately 20000 jobs, or 10% of the group's workforce, by the end of 2026. By the end of 2023, the total number of employees in the group will reach 200000. Deutsche Bank has also announced plans to lay off 3500 non customer facing employees by 2025, which includes over 800 positions cut last year.