Where to begin?…
The whole point of rebranding was to make Osaic our own, meaning the employees get to determine the course of the firm’s culture and success. Osaic is supposed to strive to be a positive influencer in the market and a distinct competitor amongst other broker dealers, but as it turns out, Osaic is following the same footsteps as all the rest. There’s no distinguishing factor except trendy colors and an unusual name. The higher ups dictate what is reasonable and what is not reasonable for everyone.
Remote work is going away for those that live within 40 miles from an office. Osaic will implement a hybrid work model where 3 days in the office is mandatory. How they determined that 3 days in the office or 40 miles is the magic number is beyond me, but the majority of workers DO NOT want to go back to pre-pandemic days of working in the office or driving in traffic. Period. Times have changed, and it’s unfortunate that corporations like Osaic refuse to see this. Since the pandemic, people have different priorities and needs. Employees are also tired, stressed and want a BETTER work-life balance. They want the flexibility and freedom that remote work offers. Furthermore, people have lives outside of work. In Osaic’s defense, the firm says that it wants to foster more in-person collaboration. If that’s the case then what has Osaic been doing the last 4 years since everyone went remote??? Requiring everyone to return to the office for the sake of “collaboration” is a cop-out, because that same excuse is being thrown around by a lot of companies these days. Please come up with a better reason! Also, the CEO said in the Town-hall meeting that he wants to be in-person. He’s tired of every meeting being via Zoom. Well, that’s great for you, but what about the rest of your workforce who do not feel the same way?And now, Osaic says they want people to consider if Osaic is right for them, meaning that they are willing to lose talent in order to maintain their stance on these company wide changes. And for those remote workers that live more than 40 miles from the office, they will continue working as normal “until further notice.” What the heck is THAT supposed to mean? Talk about beating around the bush!
Transparency and communication are lacking, and what it boils down to is leadership does not give a d*** about their employees. Last summer (June 2023) was when the upper execs announced this big name reveal for Advisor Group. Essentially, AG would become one broker dealer now known as Osaic. First of all, did anyone think the name through? The name sounds awfully similar to the weight loss drug Ozempic… but I guess that’s why an outside consulting firm is paid the big bucks right? I digress…
Since the name change, the higher-ups gave us totem pool workers nothing but positive status updates on how the company was doing. We were told that Osaic was garnering positive reception from outsiders, and independent wealth advisors were eager to join the firm. Things were on the up and up until bonuses were paid out March 2024. The higher ups announced that the numbers weren’t where they needed to be which resulted in low bonuses and low merit pay increases. When people asked the execs why there was no transparency, their response was that something was missed in reporting (or they didn’t realize it til later on) and that any change requires time, patience and diligence. Then, shortly after tax season, there were layoffs. The firm was not notified under after tax season was over. Osaic’s reason for their lack of communication is they didn’t want to be disrespectful to those who were laid off. In other words, they didn’t want to cause panic, concern, or an uprising especially during peak season. Who knows what other B.S. they’ll try to feed us….
