JPMorgan Chase has announced plans to bring staff back to the office regardless of vaccination status early next month, joining a growing list of American companies curtailing work from home in the wake of the coronavirus crisis.
Employees of the banking giant who work in the US were informed late Wednesday that they will be expected to return to the office between 50 and 100 percent of the time beginning on July 6.
'We are doing this because we believe that human interaction, spontaneous learning and creativity are so important to the way we run our company and serve our clients,' read the memo signed by the operations team including CEO Jamie Dimon and obtained by CNBC.
The memo mentions getting people on a 'regular schedule' while still maintaining occupancy limits in offices.
'In many cases this may be five days each and every week, and for others it will mean a minimum of 50 percent of your workdays will be in the office, due to occupancy limit,' the memo stated.
It said that scheduling will depend on role but did not specify details about what the split will look like.
JPMorgan Chase became the latest major company to reveal plans to return to the office, bringing back staff members regardless of their vaccination status (HQ pictured)
'We are doing this because we believe that human interaction, spontaneous learning and creativity are so important to the way we run our company and serve our clients,' the memo, signed by the operations team including CEO Jamie Dimon (pictured), rationalized
'We are aware that some teams are piloting a hybrid approach that varies by job, such as three days in the office or 50% rotations, but we want each of you back regularly so that we can test the effectiveness of these models as quickly as possible,' the memo continued.
This will be the case regardless of whether or not employees are vaccinated. There's a good chance some won't be, as President Joe Biden has stated the country is going to fall short of his 70 percent vaccination goal by Independence Day.
JPMorgan Chase employees will need to fill out a survey before returning by June 30, which asks staff members about their vaccination status. Employees can choose not to disclose it.
Those who are vaccinated won't be required to wear masks or social distance, but those who are not will be subject to the usual protocols, including testing. Those rules will vary depending on state laws.
It's unclear if people who are immunocompromised will be required to return to the office full-time.
The memo urges employees to get vaccinated and says that down the road, 'we may mandate that all employees receive a COVID-19 vaccination consistent with legal requirements and medical or religious accommodations.'
The memo congratulated workers who were vaccinated and who had already returned to the office.
The company has offices around New York City and the country, though their headquarter are located in Midtown Manhattan.
JPMorgan Chase boasts of more than 240,000 employees in more than 60 countries across the world. It's not clear what policy will emerge for the company internationally.
JPMorgan Chase employees will need to fill out a survey before returning by June 30, which asks staff members about their vaccination status (headquarters pictured)
'Over the past month it has been terrific to see more of you safely returning to our US offices, and we have been pleased to hear from many of you that our workspaces are better than ever,' the memo stated.
'You’ve commented on the health and safety protocols we’ve put in place, the new technology we’ve rolled out and, most importantly, how good it feels to see your colleagues in person.'
CEO Dimon previously expressed that he expected things to return to a more normal state for his company by the fall.
'It doesn’t work for people who want to hustle, doesn’t work for culture, doesn’t work for idea generation,' Dimon stated of being remote, according to the New York Post.
'By September it’ll look like just it did before. We are getting blowback about coming back internally but that’s life.'
CEO Jamie Dimon previously expressed that he expected things to return to a more normal state for his company by the fall
JPMorgan Chase boasts of more than 240,000 employees in more than 60 countries across the world (CEO Jamie Dimon pictured)
According to the BBC, employees in the UK and the rest of Europe won't be receiving the same letter because of data privacy laws in the region.
The company's offices in London are currently at 25 percent capacity, though that may increase in a month's time.
JPMorgan Chase's plan stands against that of Morgan Stanley, which is planning to block staff and clients from entering the bank's New York offices if they are not fully vaccinated after the CEO issued a stark warning that employees are expected back after Labor Day.
Employees, clients and visitors will be required to be fully vaccinated in order to access the bank's offices in New York and Westchester.
From July 12, those who don't attest to being fully vaccinated will lose building access, according to an internal memo obtained by the Financial Times.
Those who are not fully vaccinated will need to work remotely.
The bank is currently not dictating how many days a week staff should come in.
The bank's vaccine policy is among the strictest on Wall Street.
Goldman Sachs has made it compulsory for employees to disclose if they have been vaccinated. Unvaccinated employees are allowed in the office but are required to wear face masks.
Joe Biden 's administration conceded Tuesday that it will fall short of its goal of having partially vaccinated 70 per cent of adult Americans by July 4th
Biden's administration conceded Tuesday that it will fall short of its goal of having partially vaccinated 70 percent of adult Americans by July 4th - but officials vowed they would 'crush' COVID-19 and said they have incentives in the work to raise the vaccination rate.
Officials blamed the missed goal - of having one shot in the arm of 70 percent of adult Americans - because of the slow vaccination rate among 18-to-26-year-olds.
'The country has more work to do, particularly with 18-to-26 year-olds. The reality is many younger Americans have felt like COVID-19 is not something that impacts them, and they've been less eager to get the shot,' Jeffrey Zients, the head of the White House COVID response team, said at a press briefing.
'It'll take a few extra weeks to get to 70 percent of all adults with at least one shot with the 18-to-26-year-olds factored in,' he added.
He also conceded the White House would fall short on Biden's goal to have 150 million Americans fully vaccinated by Independence Day, coming in a few weeks late.
'We will hit 160 million Americans fully vaccinated no later than mid July,' he said.
White House press secretary Jen Psaki said incentives remain in the works to get young people to vaccination clinics, including more public appearances by Dr. Anthony Fauci, who has become the star of the pandemic.
'It's not just Dr. Fauci on TikTok but that is happening,' she said at her press briefing on Tuesday. 'Dr. Fauci has done several Q&As with TikTok and Instagram influencers to answer questions to meet people where they are, including young people, give them information they need.'
She pointed out the administration is working with the business sector on give-aways to get more shots in arms.
'Microsoft is giving away Xboxes at Boys and Girls Clubs, the College Challenge is rallying university students across the country, Walgreens is giving out $25 to anyone who gets vaccinated there before July 4th,' she said.
And she called the original goal 'bold' and 'ambitious.'
'There's nothing ever magical through science about 70 percent. Seventy percent was a bold ambitious goal we set to continue to drive to get more people vaccinated across the country,' she said.
Fauci, meanwhile, vowed the US would crush the coronavirus.
'No one should think that when we reach the 70 percent across the country that we're done. We are not done until we completely crushed this outbreak,' he said.
He did not offer a definition of what 'crushing' the virus meant.
'We're gonna continue to vaccinate millions and millions more Americans across the coming months,' Fauci said.
As of Wednesday, 65.5 percent of adults in the US have received at least an initial dose, and experts say boosting rates in the Southern states will be key to beating back the virus.
Post a Comment