Edward Jones has lifted a hiring freeze it imposed during the COVID-19 pandemic, after the company’s workforce shrank while assets under administration rose dramatically.
The wealth manager said in a statement Friday that it would begin hiring advisors again, but do so in a slow and thoughtful manner.
“The firm has restarted hiring and is committed to an innovative and intentional strategy to grow its impact by offering a plan and resources for both current financial advisors and new hires,” the company said in the statement. “This approach may result in fewer financial advisers hired than historically experienced.”
That would suggest that the company is backing away, albeit slightly, from its long-standing approach of bringing in second-career recruits and putting them through a training program with a considerable drop-out rate -- “turning schoolteachers and firemen into registered reps to work in one-adviser offices across the United States,” according to Investment News. The new approach will put a new emphasis on technology and be “more deliberate and specific” in targeting regions where the company sees opportunity.
Edward Jones advisors make up the largest brokerage workforce in the U.S., according to Financial Planning.
