Since the initial pandemic lockdown, economic conditions and recession predictions have been different. But one thing remains constant: JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon’s opinion on remote work. That is: unproductive.
Dimon explained a long-standing complaint with remote work in an interview CNBC at the World Economic Forum in Davos this week, first reported by Bloomberg. “It doesn’t work for small children or spontaneity or management,” Dimon said.
But it is not possible, he continued, for some projects like research and coding. She added that allowing women to work from home could “help” them, as the burden of marriage and care falls disproportionately on women’s shoulders. “Revamp your company to help women stay at home,” Dimon said CNBC.
In line with his fellow CEOs on Wall Street, Dimon has been imposing mandatory duties on people everywhere for years. “I will cancel all Zoom meetings,” he said in May 2021, before most of the country was vaccinated. “I’m done.” He adds that telecommuting, in general, doesn’t work for people who want to hustle.
He said he expects to return to normal workplaces in the fall of 2021. “And everyone will be happy,” he said. “And yes… people don’t like to travel, but so what.”
Over a year later, in August 2022, he noted that remote work is less conducive to an honest work environment and promotes procrastination. His friends agree with him.
In Davos Thursday, Morgan Stanley CEO James Gorman said telecommuting is “not an employee choice.”
“They can’t vote for compensation, they can’t vote for promotions, they can’t vote to stay home five days a week,” Gorman said. toward Bloomberg. “I want him with another employee for at least three or four days.”
And Goldman Sachs CEO David Solomon has launched a return to the office war, arguing that the culture of the workforce cannot survive through Zoom, which is an “aberration”. Meanwhile, Citibank CEO Jane Fraser, who has been more open than her peers about flexible work arrangements, told attendees at Davos that she was bringing low-performing remote workers back to the office for additional training.
What this powerful personal advocate CEO can see: Workers love flexible work arrangements, which benefit their health, wallets, and work balance. The so-called young people especially disagree with Dimon, and he is not afraid to leave the company that refuses to bend. In fact, being open to flexible working can reduce turnover.
Consider Spotify, where turnover is down 15% between 2019 and 2021, when it comes to a work-from-anywhere policy. If you trust your workers and treat them well, it doesn’t matter where they work, Katarina Berg, Spotify’s chief human resources officer, said. fortune.
Perhaps in 2023, leaders will discover that workers have voted with their feet.
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