JPMorgan has promised new recruits won’t be pushed as hard as the bankers of old by delivering a company-wide policy which forbids staff from working late at night or over weekends unless on a live deal.
These rules also include no marketing work done over weekends and no emailing from 7pm on Friday to midday on Saturday. The policy encompasses all staff at the firm from junior analysts to senior managing directors.
Leaders also no longer expect subordinates to work late into the night in a huge cultural shift within the investment banking industry.
The program is “working extremely well,” JPMorgan's head of global banking, Carlos Hernandez, told
The Australian Financial Review.
“Why is it working? Because it is not unique to juniors. I said when we announced it that the whole system will condition itself to be more efficient. And guess what? That is what is happening. People want to feel like somebody cares about their career. And people don't like to waste time in nonsense.”
Staff are also being encouraged to work from home through remote log-ins and younger bankers are no longer required to go to business school to receive a promotion.
“Continuity matters. When you look at the initiatives to retain juniors, we are firm believers that continuity is what matters to our clients at the end of the day.”
As Australia is a key regional market, Hernandez said the firm also plans to scale up operations which are expected to experience a healthy deal flow.
“Our intention in Australia is to increase our headcount to cover some sectors we might like to have more bandwidth, the same thing in research and on the capital markets side – our intention is to grow more of our footprint in Australia,” he said.
“We anticipate opportunities will continue to grow in Australia and we will make sure we have resources aligned with that opportunity.”
Related stories:
Barclays increases parental leave for non-primary caregivers
Do staff actually want longer working hours?
Why HR should be worried about workplace fatigue
