Wells Fargo Fires Dozens of Employees for Pretending to Work

TapTechNews June 14 - According to a Bloomberg report on the 13th, Wells Fargo fired more than a dozen employees last month after the bank received a tip that these employees were "pretending to work hard".

According to the documents disclosed to the US Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, all these employees are from the bank's wealth and investment management department and were fired after being vetted for the accusation of "simulating keyboard activities to create the impression of actively working". A Wells Fargo spokesperson said the bank has extremely high standards for its employees and will never tolerate unethical behavior.

The report points out that during the pandemic, when working from home became prevalent, devices and software that simulate human activities (TapTechNews note: such as keyboard simulators, mouse movers, etc.) also began to be popular. These small tools cost less than $20 on Amazon, and people even exchange usage tips and experiences on Reddit and TikTok.

And as the pandemic gradually subsided, the financial industry is one of the industries that has most actively required employees to return to the office, but Wells Fargo waited longer than its competitors JPMorgan Chase and Goldman Sachs Group. In early 2022, Wells Fargo began to require employees to return to the office in a "hybrid flexible model".

The bank currently expects most employees to work in the office at least three days a week, while members of the management committee are to work in the office four days a week, and many employees (such as branch employees) are to work in the office five days a week. However, this document does not disclose whether the employees had faked working during the period of working from home.