Wells Fargo pauses diversity rules for hiring after report of sham interviews

Wells Fargo & Co., the San Francisco-based bank that’s been dealing with a series of scandals and regulatory issues, has temporarily halted the use of diversity guidelines for hiring after a report that staff held fake interviews with minority candidates to satisfy in-house rules.

The firm will “pause the use of diverse slate guidelines for several weeks” as it reviews the matter, Chief Executive Charlie Scharf said in a memo.

“We will continue to actively seek diversity in hiring, even during this pause,” Scharf wrote. “The pause is a chance for us to review our guidelines and processes and to make improvements — it does not mean that anyone at Wells Fargo should stop hiring or stop actively recruiting diverse candidates.”

The New York Times reported last month on the issue, citing current and former employees who said supervisors in the wealth management division had instructed them to interview Black and female candidates for positions that had already been promised to someone else. The paper earlier reported on the memo.