August 8 update: This is now confirmed.
This is unconfirmed but in the last few hours, two employees at TIAA-CREF have written to Consumerism Commentary to share the knowledge that workers in the the Charlotte, North Carolina office are being laid off by management at this very moment. The layoffs began on Monday and will reportedly affect 10% of the workforce.
There have been no media reports yet and no official word from the company. TIAA-CREF has been plagued with customer service problems for the last several years and changes in executive management during that time period has not solved the problems.
Many people, including public school teachers, have no choice but to invest with TIAA-CREF inside 401(k) and 403(b) plans.
The Charlotte Business Journal reported TIAA-CREF laid off 158 out of the city’s total 2,850 employees.
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11:41 am (reply)
The lack of customer service is directly tied to the changes at upper management several years ago, starting with Herb Allison [recently retired CEO], who fired most if not all of the upper managers and VPs promoted or hired by his predecessors. He also decide to consolidate the multiple IT divisions – first firing most of the people who understood how to merge the systems. So service began to fail, and at least one manager dropped dead – literally.
Those who haven’t already been fired have spent months or years looking over their shoulders, waiting… How do you work in that environment?
So now there’s a new CEO – and I wouldn’t be the slightest bit surprised if this rumor is true. hw
2:12 pm (reply)
I have a friend who was laid off from TIAA-CREF just this Monday. Apparently those who do not make ‘face contact’ with clients were let go.
6:46 pm (reply)
I was laid off yesterday, they are paying contractors 3mill a DAY and are laying off full time employees
10:28 pm (reply)
it is not a rumor, it is fact.
it seems the new ceo is trying to keep it quiet as they lay a few people off each day
11:30 pm (reply)
I assume you are in Charlotte. I am in the Denver office and we are waiting for the axe to fall.
11:31 pm (reply)
The company is trying to cut costs by $225 million and laying off people is the fastest and easiest way to do so.
11:36 pm (reply)
It’s true, my wife missed this round but several of her team mates were released today. Rumor is there are two more rounds to survive. This is being done quietly so the media is not alerted. The shame is that they are releasing tenured, seasoned and knowledgeable workers while Allison rides his golden parachute! They have also left managers in place that only sit in their office and listen to calls but dodge customers begging for their money. The thanks these workers are getting for surviving management’s servicing nightmare is a pink slip. If they want to cut cost, take back Allison’s multi-million dollar retirment pkg and fire the dud management. Rumor is that they are 2 billion over budget thanks to them.
11:43 pm (reply)
no doubt, but why good people. The company already has a P.R. issu. Fire the managers with complaints agains them. You can save much more by geting rid of people who do nothing but collect their NY salaries and sit in their offices. The litle guy only makes a small dent. By the way it’s 25% employee reduction or about 2500 people.
2:23 pm (reply)
RIF’s under a certain size aren’t announced in press releases. Therefore if you roll them out slowly, you don’t get the big black mark in the marketplace on your stock, but it will show up as operating costs on your quarterly numbers. In the long run though the one-time charge companies take with the RIF is small compared to the costs of having that many employees.
The question I want to know is what kind of severance are they getting? Is it good or bad? Because bad packages on top of a RIF is a bad sign. In dot-com days that mean the company was near shuttering the office. But I doubt TIAA-CREF is at that point.
7:13 pm (reply)
The compensation is bad too…only 2 weeks per year service….a person who worked for 5 year gets 10 Weeks of pay…not so good..
7:55 pm (reply)
This is not a RUMOR. very true. Not sure why it’s not in the news but people are getting laid off. A lot of people moved with the company from NY and had been there for years but they are gone. I hear 90 people in Asset Management were let go.
1:14 am (reply)
Hey Witness. I am unsure where you get your information, but it is NOT 25%, don’t state something you don’t know. I work at T/C – and it is 5-10%. Low performers and over compensated individuals appear to be the target. It amazes me how people make things up.
Get a life Witness….
9:49 am (reply)
By the way Witness, since the company has 7000 employees 25% wouldn’t be 2500 anyway. Do the math. Besides, they still need people to do the work. 2500 or even 25% would be cutting of ones nose off to spite the face.
6:56 am (reply)
I was the first to let you this website know what was happening at T/C on 8/4/2008.
It has finally leaked to the press:
http://charlotte.bizjournals.com/charlotte/stories/2008/08/04/daily53.html
also on
http://www.charlotte.com
1:54 pm (reply)
This is true and it is not a rumor. It is not about low performers or high salaries. It is strictly a numbers game. They have to let go of a certain number of employees to hit a specific dollar amount.
11:17 am (reply)
Rumors fly freely at TIAA-CREF about layoffs…. How many will be let go? From what areas? Under performers, high dollar senior staff or random releases? What type of packages will they receive?
I can also confirm as others have that the layoffs are happening. Employees have asked for voluntary severance and TIAA-CREF has denied this request. Rather than let go those that want to leave they are removing staff they feel are dead weight. Packages are as mentioned 2 weeks for every year at the company. However, the argument about percentage wise how many will leave is an interesting one. Many of the rumors float about 5-10% of staff. However, if one reads the communication from executive management and the CEO it would indicate a larger cut. They often site ongoing “refinements” and “retooling” as we move forward. My educated guess is that this is probably the first round of several.
12:19 am (reply)
Well I know for a fact not all laid off employee’s were low performers or over compensated managers, last time I checked the over compensated managers were all employed, they are laying off Adminstrative Assistants, Project Managers, Training and HR, Asset Management who were doing the work that was given to them by the over compensated managers. The Operations side of the house is conducting their layoffs this week. Poor Decisions made by poor managers. It is a sad day when hundreds are laid off and 5 Executives were paid over $25 Million in bonuses this year according the the TIAA-CREF website, search for Executive Compensation. Is this what TIAA-CREF calls Corporate Governance?
11:01 am (reply)
When are you coming to Lewisville, TX to do cuts. Obviously the lay-offs are happening and more than half the staff hasn’t been here a year; therefore you are definitely going to hit this location because T-C is so desperate to save their $MIL$. Although, you state it will be due to low performances… you haven’t even trained these employees to DATE. Then you say work needs to be done still and become more customer driven and the necessary tools weren’t given. Whose fault is this?
12:20 pm (reply)
Go check out the unemployment line. More from TIAA there every day this week. TIAA ruins lives. Way to go Herb Alison.
10:14 pm (reply)
I was laid off a few weeks ago. They told me it was based on performance. That was the essential subject of the conversation I had with one of the HR directors. Never mind that I worked my ass off, completed all work assigned to me, and had been out of training for three months. All I have to say is “whatever”. I know the “real” reason and it has nothing to do with underperforming. The severance isn’t that great, but fortunately I did save up some money. Now that I’ve had the opportunity to reflect, I’m glad I was let go. The work environment there was deteriorating and will take time to mend. I also used the tuition reimbursement to my advantage. The funny thing about it is that my whole plan was to use TIAA-CREF to get my Series 7 & 65 and then look elsewhere once I vested. Of course, I stalled out, which subjected me to this situation. However, it’s a change for the better. I just feel sorry for the Administrative Assistants who all had tenure and were let go just like that. It’s sad, because I knew a few of them. The one thing that really pisses me off is not me being laid off, but it’s that my former manager still has a job. Probably one of the worst managers I ever worked with. Was more concerned about reports and meetings than actually developing the talent of the staff. I just remember our one-on-one meetings being a complete waste of time. As I said before, “whatever”. Good luck to those who still remain. I’m sure things will get better, but this is not the end of it. I would venture to say that the layoffs will be ongoing until the end of the year.
11:47 pm (reply)
ep32,
Your horrible manager sounds eerily familiar to me. Were you working in the so-called “risk management” group?
11:55 pm (reply)
I was layed off too. I was rated for the last two years as above average. I know for a fact that at least 4 or more of my ‘team mates’ were rated as under average. I was given great reviews on my 6 month review – no indication anything was wrong, no goals not being met, NOTHING. I walk into work and I am immediately told to go to HR. What a joy. I was stripped of everything after years and years of work, support, 24/7 on call – they dont care. They use people and spit them out.
This company is known to be ‘Management By Intimadation’. AKA ‘if you dont do this or that, you get no vacation, weekend, evening, LIFE’.
RUN RUN RUN from this company. This was the WORST years of my career. I’r rather shovel shit than work for them.
Pathetic.
1:18 am (reply)
“risk management”? no. Is that the actual name? You’ll find alot of that at CREF.
(Managers that only leave their desks for meetings, lunch, and to talk to the people they like.) That was my situation and I wasn’t interested in kissing up to try to get on my manager’s good side. I just decided to do my job and succeed with or without them. Even though they laid me off, I’m still going to succeed regardless. This is just a bump in the road. “Layed off” I feel you on the “no indication” part. I thought I was doing fine and then I have to turn my badge and everything in. That’s why I don’t really think it was solely performance-based, because in my situation how can you say a person who’s been in the position less than a year is underperforming? That person is still learning the job. Comical.
1:36 pm (reply)
Any idea what CREF was offering those layed off as severance packages? Rumors float about 2 weeks for every year you worked there and a pro-rated bonus.
11:03 pm (reply)
DT – look here, it’s published info:
http://www.tiaa-cref.org/about/governance/docs/exec_comp_policy.pdf
You’ll find this in there:
EMPLOYEE SEVERANCE PLAN AND EXECUTIVE RETENTION PLAN
Employees who are terminated involuntarily because their positions are eliminated, relocated, or their job
duties change due to Company reorganization qualify under the TIAA 2004 Severance Plan (Severance
Plan) for severance benefits based on years of service and base salary. In general, the severance
benefit is based on the number of years of completed service and is tiered as follows:
Base Salary Benefit / Year of Service
< $100,000 2 weeks
$100,000 – 149,999 3 weeks
$150,000 – 199,999 3.5 weeks
$200,000 + 4 weeks
The minimum severance benefit for each compensation range listed above is 6, 9, 10.5 and 12 weeks,
respectively. The maximum benefit for all compensation ranges is 52 weeks salary.
In addition, employees who are eligible for benefits under the Severance Plan are also eligible to receive
a prorated portion of their prior year Annual Cash Award. Also, any outstanding performance units
awarded in 2005 or later under the LTPP will continue to vest per the vesting schedule under which the
awards were granted. LTPP awards granted prior to 2005 will vest on a prorated basis. Severance
benefits are conditional on the employee signing a release agreement.
In order to foster greater stability at the Executive Vice President level in connection with the planned
CEO transition, in December 2007 the Board approved the Executive Retention Plan. This policy, which
became effective on April 14, 2008, provides enhanced severance pay in the event of a termination of
employment by the Company without cause or by the executive for “good reason” during the first 12
months of Roger W. Ferguson Jr.’s employment as CEO. Under the Executive Retention Plan, in the
event of a termination described above, the executive would be entitled to a lump sum payment equal to
the greater of the executive’s total compensation in 2006 or 2007, less any compensation actually paid or
awarded during the one year period. Essentially, the obligation under this plan is continuously reduced
during the 12-month period as the executive continues to receive compensation in the normal manner.
Payments under the Executive Retention Plan are in lieu of benefits under the Severance Plan, but
executives will receive no less than the amount payable under the Severance Plan. Participation is
subject to execution of a release and certain restrictive covenants.
1:28 pm (reply)
I left TIAA about 5 years ago, when they were pressuring people (specifically, single people – against the law, of course) to move to Charlotte from NY, saying that if you did, you would be immune from layoffs in the future since you’d done the company a solid. Well, they refused to put that in writing so I left, and boy am I glad I did. The one guy who I knew who was pressured into moving down there to “head up” the real estate function was laid off…after uprooting his family and selling his house. Screwed him completely,without so much as a shiver.
Strange group, really strange.
9:56 am (reply)
Agreed. Very strange. Joined the Wealth Management Group in Charlotte as an advisor. First, the manager who hired me was forced out. It was irrational. He seemed to be the only director who thought and acted rationally – lived in the real world. I didn’t expect irrational management from this organization going in. It’s obvious they are trimming all over the company. My theory is that it is happening now so that they can save money on bonuses for year end results. My ranking would have been quite high and they would have had to pay me a rather significant bonus. So, with never a warning or a single issue in my history, all of a sudden I had a “history” of doing this or that. News to me. All bogus. Walked out that morning. Total shock. Not only is it hurting families but the clients are being hurt as well. I really felt it was a great postion and a great place to work. The problem stems from management and I believe the irrationality is forced downhill. I do feel that the new CEO is on the ball so maybe there is hope for those still there and for the clients down the road.
6:06 pm (reply)
Employee morale at TIAA at an all-time low. People are being surgically and quietly removed. One day you’re there, next day you’re gone. There is no loyalty from management. 20 years ago, it was a wonderful place to work, now it’s depressing. Everyone is afraid of their own shadow and losing their jobs. Even if you’ve been a great employee if they can find a reason to let you go, they will! Probably because they don’t want to pay bonus/unemployment. Average tenure now is 3-4 yrs. They get rid of seasoned employees and hire cheap replacements with no real world experience. No wonder their customer service ratings are terrible. This company is going downhill slowly but surely.
7:35 pm (reply)
I am applying for a wealth management advisor, anything I should know? any advice on the position?
income potential?
5:14 pm (reply)
I am waiting for the next round. Anyone here any rumors? I also heard of outsourcing in the works. Also heard some people let go in the last few years did not get all of their vacation owed?