JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon has firmly rejected calls from employees to reconsider the company’s five-day return-to-office (RTO) policy. During a town hall meeting, Mr Dimon dismissed an internal petition urging for more flexible work arrangements.
“Don’t waste time on it. I don’t care how many people sign that f***ing petition,” he said, according to a Reuters-reviewed recording.
On January 10, the largest US bank informed its 317,000 employees that hybrid work would come to an end, requiring all staff to return to the office five days a week starting in February. Many employees, especially back-office staff, voiced concerns, arguing the change negatively impacted work-life balance and disproportionately affected caregivers, senior employees, women, and individuals with disabilities, Fortune reported.
More than 1,200 employees signed the petition opposing the mandate, citing concerns over morale, retention, and efficiency. But Mr Dimon said that employees had the choice to work at JPMorgan or leave. “It’s a free country,” he remarked during the meeting.
The CEO has long criticised remote work, claiming it hampered productivity. According to Barron’s, Mr Dimon justified, saying, “I’ve been working seven days a goddamn week since COVID, and I come in, and – where is everybody else?”
Mr Dimon also singled out remote work on Fridays, saying he often struggled to reach employees on that day. “Don’t give me that work-from-home Friday works,” he said, as quoted in Fortune. “I call a lot of people on Fridays, and there’s not a goddamn person you can get a hold of.”
Earlier, a JPMorgan Chase analyst was briefly fired after questioning Mr Dimon’s strict return-to-office mandate. Nicholas Welch, who is going through a divorce and needs work flexibility, suggested that lower-level managers should decide office attendance. His remarks received applause but were immediately shut down by Mr Dimon, who dismissed the idea entirely, as per The NY Post.
Shortly after the meeting, Mr Welch’s supervisor ordered him to clear his desk and leave. But hours later, a senior executive reversed the decision, saying he was still employed.
Alongside the RTO controversy, JPMorgan Chase has also started notifying employees about upcoming job cuts as part of its downsizing efforts for 2025. The layoffs will impact fewer than 1,000 employees in February, with additional cuts planned for mid-March, May, June, August, and September.
The bank said that these layoffs were a small fraction (0.3 per cent) of its total workforce. Despite these cuts, JPMorgan plans to continue hiring in certain areas and redeploy impacted staff.
