JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has railed against a staff pushback at his decree to get back to the office.
Dimon went on a foul-mouthed tirade against a staff petition asking him to ease his position on slashing hybrid-working arrangements and hauling staff back into the office.
By Wednesday, 950 of 317,000 worldwide employees had signed the appeal. Reuters saw a recording of a fiery town hall meeting about the matter. Despite the petition and staff complaints about the decision, Dimon remained resolute in his own unique fashion.
“Don’t waste time on it. I don’t care how many people sign that f---ing petition,” he reportedly blasted, drawing some laughter. Dimon, who has flip-flopped between Democratic and Republican notions, added that employees have a choice on whether to work at JPMorgan, the largest bank in the U.S.
The New Yorker, who has been the chairman and chief executive officer of JPMorgan Chase since 2006, added that working from home fosters a climate that stymies creativity and efficiency. Dimon, who is a billionaire, added that some people did not listen on Zoom meetings.
And despite his firebrand position, he pleaded with staff not to be mad at him, Reuters reported. Even still, his directive is a top-down decree. “There is no chance that I will leave it up to managers,” he reportedly said. “Zero chance. The abuse that took place is extraordinary.”
Dimon, who recently gushed over Elon Musk, also appeared to moan about structural bureaucracy at the company, recalling a decision that needed 14 rounds of approval. “I feel like firing 14 chairmen of committees, I can’t stand it anymore,” he said. “I’m sorry. It’s my fault. I’m the boss.”
Dimon also demanded that departments prove a 10 percent leap in efficiency. This would “entail 10 percent cuts in reports, meetings, documents and training sessions,” Reuters reported.
Nick Wiener, the campaign lead from Communications Workers of America, the largest communications and media labor union in the United States, said that some staffers made the rare move of seeking information regarding the construction of a labor union.
It comes as President Donald Trump signed an executive order on Monday, ending work from home arrangements for federal workers. “I happen to be a believer that you have to go to work. I don’t think you can work from home,” he said.
“Nobody’s going to work from home, they’re going to be going out, they’re gonna play tennis, they’re gonna play golf. They’re gonna do a lot of things—they’re not working.”
He added: “It’s a rare person that’s going to work. You might work 10 percent of the time, maybe 20 percent, I don’t think you’re going to work a lot more than that.”
Dimon was wary of Trump’s tariffs during his first term, but just a couple of days into his second term he told reporters at Davos that people need to “get over it,” regarding the president’s controversial taxes levied against Canada, China and Mexico.
“If it’s a little inflationary, but it’s good for national security—so be it,” he told CNBC at the event in mid January. “Get over it,” he added.
