Is M&T actually hiring or just going through the motions?

I went through the same loop last year and honestly, it felt like a total stall tactic. They dragged the process out for nearly three months before finally admitting the position was put on a hiring freeze. It seems like a lot of these legacy banks are just keeping a bench of candidates warm in case they get the green light, but they have no immediate intention of filling the seats. Don't quit your current gig based on their empty promises, because the bureaucracy there is currently paralyzed and nobody seems to know what the next quarter holds.

You should trust your gut here. M&T has been incredibly tight-lipped lately, and those vague corporate platitudes are a classic indicator that leadership is trying to avoid bad press while shuffling resources around. I have a few friends in the back office who have mentioned that headcount is being heavily scrutinized across almost every department. If they aren't being transparent about the team's stability now, they certainly won't be once you're actually onboard. It is probably safer to keep looking for a firm that is actually growing instead of just hiding it.