JPMorgan asks employees to return to workplace 5 days every week, prompting complaints

By Nupur Anand, Isla Binnie

(Reuters) -U.S. financial institution JPMorgan Chase (NYSE:JPM) on Friday requested its staff who’re on hybrid work schedules to return to the workplace 5 days every week beginning in March, an inside memo seen by Reuters confirmed, prompting a whole lot of employees feedback, together with complaints.

Monetary corporations have been aggressive in imposing return-to-office calls for within the wake of the pandemic which started to affect the U.S. in 2020. Many corporations started to name employees again to the workplace as early as 2021.

JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon and counterparts at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley (NYSE:MS) have been sturdy advocates of working from the workplace, saying it fosters higher studying, innovation and tradition.

Greater than half of JPMorgan’s staff already come into the workplace full-time, in accordance with the memo from the financial institution’s working committee. It has greater than 316,000 employees worldwide.

“Now could be the precise time to solidify our full-time in-office strategy,” the executives wrote. “We expect it’s one of the best ways to run the corporate.”  

A JPMorgan spokesperson confirmed the contents of the memo however declined to remark additional.

“We all know that a few of you favor a hybrid schedule and respectfully perceive that not everybody will agree with this resolution,” Dimon and different leaders wrote within the memo. “Being collectively drastically enhances mentoring, studying, brainstorming and getting issues executed.” 

Some JPMorgan staffers pushed again towards the return-to-office directive by posting feedback on the corporate’s intranet website, in accordance with two sources who noticed the posts and declined to be recognized discussing personnel issues.

The complaints cited elevated commuting and childcare prices, in addition to considerations about psychological well being and stress, in accordance with one of many sources.

After greater than 300 feedback had been posted throughout the first hour, the web page was locked, the second supply mentioned.

Important employees at lenders, together with financial institution department staff, reported for in-person work all through the pandemic. JPMorgan referred to as company employees again to workplaces on a rotational foundation in mid-2021 after months of pandemic shutdowns, and introduced managing administrators again to the workplace full-time in 2023.

The biggest U.S. lender mentioned that staff can be given at the very least 30 days’ discover earlier than they’re anticipated to return to workplaces full-time. The workers had been additionally directed to hunt supervisor approval in the event that they wanted extra time to organize.

“What is just not altering is our assist for flexibility within the office, which we’re dedicated to offering at each degree in a good means,” the financial institution mentioned.

The memo additionally included a hyperlink to an inventory of regularly requested questions, giving particulars about particular exceptions for distant work, flexibility for private causes and attendance logs.