NuBank founder and global president David Velez responded to comments from former employees on LinkedIn, saying some employees were “confusing corporate channels with social networks and stadium stands.”
The statement came amid recent criticism after the bank laid off 14 employees for cause since last week.
The executive’s comments were in response to former bank employee Rafael Calsaverini, who reacted to a publication by bank union president Neiva Ribeiro. He said in the publication that he had been in touch with Nubank management since Friday (7th) to schedule an emergency meeting to discuss the layoffs of 12 employees, which came shortly after an internal meeting with the CEO announcing the end of working from home.
The broadcast calls for a change to a hybrid format, which will affect around 7,000 employees. Two other employees were also fired after the company suspected they were planning to sabotage the fintech’s internal systems, according to a statement to employees.
The decision to end working from home was first communicated to the union and then announced live, allowing employees to express their views via chat. Neiva Ribeiro said in her post that she is currently receiving reactions from employees. “Even with an eight-month transition period, this change will have a direct impact on the lives of workers, requiring adaptation, changes in housing, changes in daily life and family reorganization,” the union president said.
At the end of the meeting, the 12 people were fired because Nubank deemed the experts’ comments too excessive, but the workers insisted they were simply voicing their dissatisfaction.
In a comment on the union president’s post, a former employee said that Nubank had long cultivated the idea that confronting management was completely justified, and that in his five years with the company he had seen “more aggressive and insulting messages that did not result in termination.”
He said hundreds of employees had been warned after being misled about online gambling memes, which he said involved misconceptions.
In response, Velez said his former employees had little information about the incident and would not tolerate such behavior in his home.
NuBank said in the memo that it does not comment on individual termination cases. “While we strive to maintain open channels and rituals for free discussion among our employees, we do not tolerate incivility or conduct violations,” he said.
The layoffs of 12 employees were announced in an email from Beres. “It was a difficult decision, but we set limits on our definition of disrespect and aggression.”
The ad also included a link to a question-and-answer website about transitioning from a home office to hybrid work. This page has accumulated hundreds of employee communications, including those sent after layoffs.
Some employees say they live far from the cities where NuBank’s offices are located and structure their lives around it. Others argue that the decision disproportionately affects people who do not live in São Paulo, citing the lack of representation of people from outside the southeast in financial institutions.
The CEO currently lives in Uruguay and said he plans to move to a country with an office to keep up with the changes.
The fintech company said it will expand its offices based on demand. It has units in São Paulo (Piñheiros and Villa Leopoldina), one in Mexico City and one in Bogotá, Colombia. The company also has three “talent hubs”, spaces for networking and training, in Montevideo (Uruguay), Berlin (Germany) and Durham (USA).
New offices should be opened in the cities of Campinas (SP), Belo Horizonte (MG), Rio de Janeiro (RJ), and Buenos Aires (Argentina), as well as in the Washington metropolitan area (USA), Miami, and Palo Alto.
Nubank said some functions will be exceptions and will remain remote because “the nature of the work requires little or no interaction with other teams.” they are:
- Xpeers (Customer Service Professionals)
- Investor support (investment experts)
- ombudsman
- Labeling data
- financial crime investigation
- Regulatory Solutions (Regulatory Solutions Specialist)
- Talent Acquisition (Human resources function that attracts talent)
It will be possible to request a personal exception, for example if you have a specific medical situation. Exceptions will be analyzed on a case-by-case basis. NuBank considers criteria such as seniority, performance and distance from the office as eligibility criteria, but emphasizes that exceptions are rare.
Eligible employees may also apply for relocation assistance programs to assist with relocation if needed.
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