JPMorgan Chase Issues 6th RTO Policy [Jan 2025]
JPMorgan Chase attempted one of the earliest return-to-office dates of the Fortune 500 on September 21, 2020. After a breakout of COVID occurred, the company backed off the mandate. From the beginning of the COVID lockdowns until early 2022, CEO Jamie Dimon took a hard stance against remote work and for office work. Dimon stated, “We want people back to work. And everyone is going to be happy with it, and yes, the commute, you know people don’t like commuting, but so what.”
After five total iterations since 2020, the bank’s latest policy change was released on January 7, 2025 – all employees are expected to be in the office full-time.
Here is everything you need to know about JPMorgan Chase’s return to office plan: the current policy, the timeline of delays, and sentiment from JPMorgan leadership about how work will be done in the future at the company.
JPMorgan’s Return To Office: Current Policy
- Notice Date: January 7, 2025
- Return To Office Date: March 1, 2025
- Notes:
- The policy was leaked on January 7, 2025 (potentially before being shared with employees)
- The bank followed up later saying it would give employees 30 days’ notice before their RTO policy kicks in
- Location Policy: Office First
- Office Visit Expectations: Five days per week
- Office Space Footprint: Decreasing
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JPMorgan’s RTO Timeline
September 21, 2020: Attempted, then aborted
“The bank executives had previously told managing directors and some executive directors within its sales and trading operation that they must return to the office by Sept. 21.”
May 17, 2021: Delayed
“The biggest U.S. bank by assets told workers on Tuesday it is ramping up the numbers of employees allowed in offices and that buildings will be open to all employees on May 17, subject to a 50% building occupancy limit.”
July 1, 2021: Delayed indefinitely
“We would fully expect that by early July, all U.S.-based employees will be in the office on a consistent rotational schedule, also subject to our current 50% occupancy cap,” the bank said in a memo, reported earlier.”
February 1, 2022: JPMorgan’s first RTO date that was implemented
“We expect everyone to return to their in-office schedule no later than February 1,” the memo said.
April 12, 2023: Directors need to come in five days, other employees for three days
- JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) asked its managing directors to work from the office for five days a week, the largest U.S. bank said in a memo.
- The bank also “warned other employees working on hybrid schedules that they needed to show up three days a week or face consequences.”
January 7. 2025: All employees must come in full-time
“JPMorgan Chase & Co. is preparing to tell all its employees to return to the office five days a week, ending a hybrid-work option for thousands of staff and returning to the attendance policy that was in place before the pandemic.”
Sentiment From JPMorgan Chase Leadership
Stance on remote work
- “Dimon, who said he has been going to the office for three months, noted that productivity had dropped in certain jobs. He also said working from home has negative effects in society that most people don’t appreciate, including drug overdoses” (source).
- CEO Jamie Dimon said, “We want people back to work. And everyone is going to be happy with it, and yes, the commute, you know people don’t like commuting, but so what” (source).
- “It’s clear that working from home will become more permanent in American business,” Dimon acknowledged in his annual shareholder letter Monday (source).
Stance on office work
- “We want people back to work. And everyone is going to be happy with it, and yes, the commute, you know people don’t like commuting, but so what,” Jamie Dimon said.
Stance on office space
- “JPMorgan Chase, New York City’s largest office tenant, cut its commercial footprint by 400,000 square feet last year, Crain’s reported. The bank, which has said it plans to “significantly reduce” its global office footprint in the coming years, also downsized by 300,000 square feet in 2020” (source).
- On August 25, 2022, The NY Post reported yet another change in sentiment: “JPMorgan’s hard-charging chief executive has been quietly telling senior managers he expects the mega-bank’s rank and file to be in their seats at the office five days a week.”
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