JPMorgan Chase Urges xecutives to 'Refrain' from Hiring and to Utilize AI

JPMorgan Chase (JPM) employed 60,000 individuals during the past five years, augmenting its staff by 23%. It appears that is going to come to a halt.

Jeremy Barnum, JPMorgan's Chief Financial Officer, said investors at a meeting in New York on Monday that the bank is advising managers to pause hiring activities.

“We urge individuals to curtail headcount expansion when feasible and to enhance their emphasis on efficiency,” he stated in comments cited by Business Insider.

He stated that AI will significantly contribute to this, leading to a 10% reduction in staffing within divisions such as account services, processing, and fraud.

“It is implicit that we will never jeopardize safety and stability, and we will persist in recruiting and investing in high-certainty sectors where there is a correlation between increasing personnel and revenue growth,” Barnum stated.

Marianne Lake, CEO of consumer and community banking at JPMorgan, expressed optimism on the impact of AI on efficiency, according to Business Insider. “I would exceed this projection and wager that we will achieve greater results,” Lake stated during the meeting.

Future recruits will be strategic, according to Barnum, focusing mostly on bankers and advisors in "high-certainty areas." They are also unlikely to work from home, as CEO Jamie Dimon recently criticized the practice during a town hall with staff, stating, “You can’t learn working in your basement.”

During the same discussion, he informed employees that "attrition is advantageous."

“We could significantly enhance our efficiency, and we must consistently adopt that mindset,” he stated. “I believe that diminishing bureaucracy will directly decrease cancer rates.”

Last month, JPMorgan announced first-quarter earnings of $5.07 per share on sales of $46.01 billion, exceeding analyst projections as profit increased by 9% to $14.64 billion.