JPMorgan employees reluctant to sign petition for hybrid model fearing backlash from CEO Jamie Dimon, says report
Employees at US lender JPMorgan Chase are concerned that their opposition to CEO Jamie Dimon returning to work full-time could lead to backlash and “career suicide”, according to a report by the New York Post.
He added that although many people still prefer the hybrid model, a petition to bring back hybrid working has garnered more than 2,000 signatures. The story was first reported by The Financial Times.
“JPMorgan is a global company, so why wouldn’t that include my home office?” one employee told the newspaper, noting that his team has members on two continents and three time zones.
Another said that forcing full-time work would result in a reversal of many of the hard-won gains for the company and its staff. “Hybrid works and employees love the happy environment. Please don’t leave working women out of the workforce completely,” they said.
The report also stated that JPMorgan refused to answer questions about the issue.
‘Don’t waste your time on this’: Jamie Dimon takes tough stance on return to office
According to an audio recording leaked by Barrons in February 2025, Jamie Dimon’s reaction to an internal group called ‘JPMC Workers’ who circulated a petition demanding that the hybrid model remain was stinging.
“Don’t waste your time with this. I don’t care how many people signed this damn petition,” he is heard saying.
The petition attracted more than 2,000 signatures from the 3,00,000-strong workforce, with some staff telling the FT they were concerned signing their names could affect their jobs.
Forbes reported in February 2025 that an employee who had been with the bank since 2017 was allegedly fired for questioning Dimon about his return-to-office policy. Technical operations analyst Nicolas Welch explained that his team consists of members from different time zones and asked Dimon to consider reinstating the role and leaving WFH allowances to the manager’s discretion.
The report stated that Dimon was angry and accused managers of abusing the company’s hybrid work policies. “That’s it? I’m going to give you a full answer. There’s no way I’m leaving this up to the executives. Zero chance. The abuse that occurred was extraordinary,” Dimon said.
He also complained about staff “wasting time” during Zoom meetings and complained about how staff numbers had “ballooned” by 50,000 in the last four to five years. “We don’t need all these people. We were placing people in jobs because people weren’t doing the jobs they were hired for.” [the] first place,” Dimon said.
Jamie Dimon says it’s necessary to return to the office
He emphasized that it is mandatory for those working at the city hall to work from the office five days a week. The company said this was necessary to encourage collaboration, education and personal control, according to the NYP report.
When asked by CNBC later that month how the outburst happened, Dimon was still adamant. “I’m not against working from home. I’m against places that don’t work. They can find a job – I’m not being malicious – they can find a job somewhere else.”
In the video he said, he added, “I do town halls all over the world, and as you know, sometimes I get quiet. I should never swear. I shouldn’t get angry or anything like that. But the gentleman asked a long question and I answered the question. I tried to give a lot of detail, and I think he has the right to because I’ve never, ever fired anyone for asking a question like that.”
JPMorgan’s return-to-office mandate goes into effect in March 2025, still in a hybrid model for 30% of employees; yet 70% had already returned to office work full-time.
America’s largest lender is not alone in this decision; Goldman Sachs has mandated a five-day work week since March 2022, and PNC plans to introduce working from the office from May 2026.
