Letter from Wells Fargo tech worker about AI: Take the AI Survey for Bank Workers

I'm a tech analyst at Wells Fargo, and I want to ask you a few questions about something that's affecting all of our jobs: the rollout of AI across all of our departments and teams.

We’ve heard from nearly 300 Wells Fargo employees so far. These are honest, firsthand accounts of how AI implementation is impacting our jobs. And it's serious.

Workers are losing their jobs. Entire teams are being eliminated or offshored. And while it has the possibility to make some job functions easier, we’re often not given sufficient training. Plus those of us still here are being required to use AI tools — with our usage tracked and tied to our performance reviews — while getting little clarity about why or where it's all headed.

(And all the big banks are rolling out AI, so if you work at a different bank or credit union, we want you to fill out this survey too!)

Here's what some of your coworkers are saying, in their own words:

Management at Wells Fargo has been instructed to use AI for performance evaluations at mid-year and end-of-year. This results in reduced morale and a decrease in human interaction, making the role feel robotic.

We are now required to use it 3x a week or we are notified and it is now a part of our metrics that we get graded on for performance.

It created an environment where personal skill set and experience is not valued. It focused on absolute utilization of the tool, with a 'human in the loop' expected to catch AI errors, but limiting professional growth.

Are they using it to train bots to do our jobs? I have asked these questions directly in the workshops and was told to 'ask Copilot.'

I didn't know if this is related to AI, but a round of layoffs in my division last week appears to have disproportionately impacted workers of color.

Management is making sweeping decisions about AI — decisions that affect our job security, our working conditions, and our futures — without asking us. This survey is a way to make sure our voices get counted.

It takes less than 5 minutes. Your responses are confidential.

Please share this with coworkers you trust — in tech, in operations, in fraud, in compliance, in branches, wherever you have connections. The more of us who respond, the harder our data will be to ignore.

In solidarity,

Jason Goncalves
Wells Fargo Tech Analyst

P.S. If you are interested in learning more about your labor rights, sign up for one of our upcoming online Union Classes.