JP Morgan has warned its investment bankers that they will be punished for failing to work in the office as it ordered its senior staff back to their desks five days a week.
The Wall Street institution said some employees were still refusing to return to the workplace and failing to hit the bank’s minimum office attendance target of three days a week.
In a memo to staff seen by The Telegraph, chief executive Jamie Dimon said: “There are a number of employees who aren’t meeting their in-office attendance expectations, and that must change.
“You’re responsible for meeting your hybrid model requirements. Your manager is responsible for ensuring that attendance requirements are being met and, in cases where they aren’t, taking the appropriate performance management steps, which could include corrective action.”
It came as Mr Dimon told JP Morgan’s managing directors that they should no longer be working from home, adding that all staff should be able to work five days a week in the office if required.
He said: “As we’ve returned to more normal patterns in our lives and work, we can all appreciate the many benefits of in-person engagement.
“We believe this is especially true when it comes to the importance of being in the office – being together improves the speed of decision making, while also 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 reinforcing our culture and running our businesses. They have to be visible on the floor, they must meet with clients, they need to teach and advise, and they should always be accessible for immediate feedback and impromptu meetings.
“We need them to lead by example, which is why we’re asking all Managing Directors to be in the office five days a week.”
The company emphasised that employees should account for their time out of the office for sick days, holidays or business travel. It plans to introduce more automated attendance tracking to manage work schedules, real estate and security.
“Everyone should be able to work five days a week in the office,” the bank added.
Wall Street firms, like many throughout the US, are rethinking their work-from-home rules as the Covid-19 pandemic recedes.
JP Morgan’s push to get staff back to the workplace comes after it started encouraging employees back into offices on a regular basis in July 2021 as the impact of the pandemic receded.
But many employees reportedly were reluctant to return to work on a full-time basis, arguing that a hybrid model improved productivity. Staff have pointed to the bank’s record profits in the fourth quarter of 2022 and a fierce battle for skilled banking roles as evidence for allowing for a hybrid working pattern.
Other US banks including Goldman Sachs have been trying to encourage staff to return to the office five days a week.
One possible motivation for bringing workers back to the office could be the new headquarters JPMorgan is building on Park Avenue in midtown Manhattan. The 60-story skyscraper, which will house as many as 14,000 employees, will have yoga and cycling rooms, meditation spaces, an abundance of outdoor areas and a state-of-the-art food hall.
“JPMorgan Chase has been in the city for 200 years, and this is the headquarters of JPMorgan, in the best city in the world, in the best country in the world,” Dimon said at an event at the site last year.
Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/bankers-refusing-return-office-punished-175104622.html