JPMorgan Chase will lay off 121 employees in its Jersey City, New Jersey, office by May as part of planned cuts originally announced by Barron’s this month.
The cuts in New Jersey, revealed by a WARN notice, are a result of the bank “regularly review[ing] our business needs and adjust[ing] our staffing accordingly – creating new roles where we see the need or reducing positions when appropriate,” bank spokesperson Mike Fusco said via email, noting that the cuts “are part of what has previously been reported.”
The bank has more than 12,000 employees in New Jersey, including 600-plus open positions, Fusco said.
Fewer than 1,000 employees will be laid off this month, Barron’s reported, adding that further cuts are planned for mid-March, May, June, August and September, citing sources familiar with the matter who spoke on condition of anonymity.
Several previously notified affected employees were located in Houston offices, according to Barron’s.
“Our strategy has not changed, and we run the company to invest through the cycle,” Fusco said. “[The Jersey City layoffs] impacts a small number of local employees and we are working hard to redeploy them.”
JPMorgan has more than 300,000 employees.
In January, company leadership told those employees that they’d be expected to return to office five days a week come March.
“We know that some of you prefer a hybrid schedule and respectfully understand that not everyone will agree with this decision,” JPMorgan’s operating committee wrote in the memo. “We think it is the best way to run the company.”
A petition circulating online signed by more than 1,800 self-identified JPMorgan employees shows that the committee was correct: not everyone agrees with the RTO policy.
The campaign creator also alleged the memo was leaked to the press before management’s message made its way to employee inboxes.
“The sudden reversal [on RTO policy] sharply undermined trust between regular employees and upper management, while creating unnecessary friction and dissatisfaction among the workforce,” according to the campaign. “Employees have voiced concerns internally, but those concerns have been repeatedly dismissed or silenced.
