Wells Fargo could spend $1.5 billion on severances in Q4

The news: Speaking to investors at a Goldman Sachs Conference, Wells Fargo CEO Charlie Scharf said he expects to spend between USD750 million ($1.14 billion) and USD1 billion ($1.52 billion) on severance expenses during Q4 this year.

The numbers: The US bank has already cut 4.7% of its workforce during 2023, retrenching 11,300 employees from a total of approximately 227, 300 employees.

The context: The cost is an accrual for staff layoffs that the bank plans to make during 2024. Scharf told investors that Wells Fargo needs to be more aggressive about managing its headcount as employee attrition has been slow this year.

What they said: Scharf told investors: “We’re looking at something like USD750 million to a little less than a billion dollars of severance in the fourth quarter that we weren’t anticipating, just because we want to continue to focus on efficiency.