Bankers refusing to return to office will be punished, warns JP Morgan

Mr. Dimon requires all managing directors to be in the office five days a week to «lead by example.» Credit: Giulia Marchi/Bloomberg

He said, «As we have returned to a more familiar way of life and work, we can all appreciate the many benefits of face-to-face communication.

«We believe this is especially true when it's about the importance of being in the office: being together increases the speed of decision-making, as well as providing valuable opportunities for spontaneous learning and creativity, as well as allowing our professionals to learn through our apprenticeship model.

“Our leaders play a critical role in strengthening our culture and running our business. They need to be visible in the room, they need to meet with clients, they need to be taught and advised, and they need to be available for immediate feedback and impromptu meetings.

“We need them to lead by example. therefore, we ask all managing directors to be in the office five days a week.”

The company emphasized that employees should take into account time spent away from the office due to illness, holidays or business trips. The bank plans to introduce more automated attendance tracking to manage work schedules, property and security.

«Everyone should be able to work five days a week in the office,» the bank added.

Firms Wall Street, like many others in the US, are reviewing their work-from-home rules as the Covid-19 pandemic recedes.

JP Morgan's push to get employees back to work began after it began encouraging employees to return to the office on a regular basis in July 2021 as the impact of the pandemic eases.

But many employees were reportedly reluctant to return to work full-time, arguing that the hybrid model improves productivity. Staff cited the bank's record earnings in the fourth quarter of 2022 and the fierce competition for skilled bank professionals as evidence that a hybrid work model could be pursued.

Other US banks, including Goldman Sachs, have tried to encourage employees to return to office five days a week.

One possible motive for returning employees to the office could be the new JPMorgan headquarters that JPMorgan is building on Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The 60-story skyscraper, which will house 14,000 employees, will feature yoga and cycling rooms, meditation spaces, multiple outdoor areas and a state-of-the-art food hall.

«JPMorgan Chase has been in the city for 200 years, and it's JPMorgan's headquarters, in the best city in the world, in the best country in the world,» Dimon said at an event on the site last year.