-
JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon doesn’t think work-from-home policies are very effective.
-
He’s said that remote workers are inattentive in meetings and that it’s impossible to foster culture.
-
Here are some of Dimon’s thoughts on working from home.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon has said many things about working from home.
The banking executive has repeatedly shared why he thinks workers aren’t as effective when they’re not in the office and how that can negatively affect company culture.
Taken together, Dimon’s comments reflect a very specific image of the work-from-home employee: They largely work in corporate jobs, are inattentive, and are at times hard to reach.
“I think our employees will be happier over time,” Dimon said in an interview with Bloomberg Television on Thursday, referring to JPMorgan’s return-to-office mandate. “And the younger people will learn the right way; it’s an apprenticeship system. And you can’t learn working from your basement.”
He has added the caveat that WFH can be effective in certain areas, such as virtual call centers. Still, it does reflect how skeptical he is of a coveted work perk — for some, a requirement — that many employees seek in their jobs.
JPMorgan issued a five-day return-to-office mandate for most of its employees in January, and Dimon said in the Bloomberg TV interview that 10% of JPMorgan worked remotely.
In his annual shareholder letter last year, Dimon said JPM had seen significant growth in the past half-decade while also allowing some “bad habits to develop.”
“Working from home exacerbated the situation by hindering innovation, slowing decision-making, inhibiting information sharing, reducing efficiency, and creating more politics and bureaucracy,” he wrote.
A spokesperson for JPMorgan didn’t respond to a request for comment.
Here’s what else Dimon has said about working from home.
Dimon has said that remote work doesn’t allow for a free flow of ideas that in-person work can and that it ultimately slows down innovation at a company.
“Remote work eliminates much spontaneous learning and creativity because you don’t run into people at the coffee machine, talk with clients in unplanned scenarios or travel to meet with customers and employees for feedback on your products and services,” he wrote in an annual shareholder letter in 2021, explaining what he called the “serious weaknesses” of working in the “virtual world.”
The banking CEO has said remote work is especially bad for up-and-coming professionals.
