Everyone remembers the looseness that defined work during the COVID pandemic. While it brought its share of stress, particularly the constant concern about infection, remote work also rebalanced work-life integration. It became easy to fold laundry, run errands, or start dinner in between tasks, all while sipping iced coffee with a cat curled in your lap.
“You could build a company one way and I could build another company one way,” he said. “But I’ll tell you one thing: We would crush you.”
When Dokoupil asked Dimon what his sources were for the benefits of in-person work, Dimon said it’s part numbers, part feeling. However, for Dimon, productivity isn’t the only concern. He emphasizes the professional development opportunities in-person contact provides for younger workers.
“We saw people when they weren’t coming in, younger kids kind of being left behind,” he said. “They weren’t developing their EQ as much. They didn’t have as many friends. They didn’t have much knowledge. They weren’t being assigned stuff.” For Dimon, the workplace provides an “apprenticeship system,” a critical resource for skill development that doesn’t exist without in-person work.
The CEO maintains that companies function better in-person than online. “We think we’re going to run a better business, do a better job for customers, share more information,” he said. He adds that in-person work is particularly important for communication. Without it, the company’s structure breaks down. “JP[Morgan] is a neural network and that neural network starts to break down a little bit when you can’t get a hold of people.”
Dimon said he isn’t completely against remote work. He notes JPMorgan Chase has always had about 10% of staff working remote, including presently at virtual call centers in Baltimore and Detroit. “I’m not against remote work, and it works,” he said. He adds the company allows flexibility, particularly for caregivers, like those workers caring for aging parents.
But he suggests remote work isn’t a one-size-fits-all method to management. “I’m against it where it doesn’t work for the company and the clients or the individual involved.” It’s unclear if he’s against it for his most talented empowered non-compliers, too.
