JPMorgan Chase fired an employee, Nicolas Welch, after he questioned the bank’s return-to-office (RTO) policy during a town hall meeting in February. However, following intervention from higher management, Welch’s termination was rescinded.
Welch, a tech operations analyst since 2017, had expressed concerns about the new RTO mandate requiring all 317,000 employees to work in the office five days a week. He cited his team’s global nature and suggested that individual managers should have discretion over in-office requirements.
CEO Jamie Dimon dismissed Welch’s suggestion, stating there would be no chance of allowing managers to decide on attendance. Dimon criticized remote work for inefficiencies and attributed wasted time to Zoom meetings.
After the town hall, Welch received a text demanding he report to his desk immediately, and was confronted by executives who told him to clear his desk and leave. Welch believed he had been fired but later received an apology from Monaghan and confirmation that his job was still intact.
JPMorgan Chase clarified that Welch was never formally dismissed, with the company spokesperson stating that he didn’t say anything wrong in the town hall. Despite retaining his job, Welch remains frustrated with the RTO mandate and workplace climate.
Source: https://www.hindustantimes.com/trending/jpmorgan-chase-employee-fired-after-questioning-ceo-jamie-dimon-about-return-to-office-then-101739761330201.html