Wells Fargo Announces ‘Pause’ of Policy That Led to Fake Job Interviews

The New York Times reported that some managers at Wells Fargo conducted sham interviews of nonwhite and female candidates in order to get around the bank's hiring policy.

A catchall term for racial minorities, women and members of other disadvantaged groups, the bank's "diverse slate" policy stipulated that at least half the candidates interviewed for open positions had to pay $100,000 or more in annual salary.

In order to increase diversity at the bank, the leaders of Wells Fargo spelled out the policy in writing in 2020. The policy will be put on hold for several weeks to give the bank's leaders time to study it.

It would allow the bank to gain confidence that the guidelines live up to their promise and that hiring managers, senior leaders and recruiters fully understand how the guidelines should work.

The Times reported on May 19 that a former employee in the bank's wealth management business had complained that he was being forced to interview people who had already been promised jobs in order to meet the "diverse slate" requirement.

A group of current and former Wells Fargo employees said they had seen or participated in fake interviews. Some employees said that sham interviews were done for jobs that paid less than $100,000. They said the purpose was to record the fact thatdiverse candidates had been interviewed in case regulators looked into whether Wells Fargo was giving minorities a fair chance at getting jobs.

Lawmakers criticized the practice after the report was published. The bank needs to fix its problems once and for all. Senator Elizabeth Warren of Massachusetts called for the break up of Wells Fargo after reading the report.

Mr. Bruno was terminated after complaining to his bosses. Bank officials told employees that if fake interviews had happened, they represented isolated incidents that were not in line with the bank's policy.

The bank had reasons to believe that the policy was working, according to the letter. Before the "diverse slate" policy was put in place, 42 percent of people hired for jobs paying $100,000 or more were members of a racial or ethnic minority, an increase of five percentage points.

The members of the bank's operating committee, which includes its most senior executives, decided that there was an opportunity to improve the implementation of some of the activities.

The "diverse slate" policy will be suspended for several weeks to give leaders time to review their guidelines and processes. During the month of July, Wells Fargo will make adjustments to the diverse slate program, where appropriate, once the review is complete.