Jamie Dimon, chief executive officer of JPMorganChase, speaks to a Bloomberg journalist at the JPMorganChase Global Markets Conference in Paris on Thursday.
Bloomberg
JPMorgan Chase & Co.'s Jamie Dimon swiftly went viral following some heated remarks about the perils of working from home earlier this year. On Thursday, he acknowledged his emotions ran a little high but affirmed the case for bringing employees back to the office.
"I emoted a little bit," Dimon said in a Bloomberg Television interview, when asked about the comments he made in February at a townhall discussion in Columbus, Ohio.
At that time, the chief executive officer — one of Wall Street's most outspoken leaders — made waves for his response to a question about an online petition some workers had launched to appeal his bank's recent return-to-office mandate. The CEO, getting visibly frustrated and cursing during his remarks, said he didn't care how many people signed.
On Thursday, at JPMorgan's annual Global Markets Conference in Paris, Dimon said that question was a legitimate one.
"I gave it a very detailed answer about why it doesn't work for young people, why it doesn't work for management, why it doesn't work for innovation," he said. "I completely applaud your right to not want to go to the office every day. But you're not going to tell JPMorgan what to do."
Dimon said the bank has about 10% of its jobs at home. It hasn't seen additional attrition since the policy, though it has had to make some modifications in certain areas where it didn't have enough seats, he said.
JPMorgan told employees to return to the office five days a week earlier this year, ending a hybrid-work option for thousands of staff and returning to the attendance policy that was in place before the COVID-19 pandemic. The decision expanded rules announced in April 2023 that required the bank's managing directors to be in five days a week.
At the February townhall, Dimon had cited reduced efficiency and creativity in hybrid work settings. Younger employees have been left behind socially because of such arrangements, he said at that time. He reiterated some of those comments on Thursday.
"I think our employees will be happier over time," he said. "And the younger people learn the right way; it is an apprenticeship system and you can't learn working from your basement."
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