JPMorgan Chase has rolled out software to monitor how junior investment bankers’ reported working hours match up against a computer-generated estimate.
The tool compiles its estimates based on data collected by the bank’s IT systems, including employees’ video calls, desktop keystrokes and scheduled meetings, according to people familiar with the matter.
The bank told FStech in a statement that the tool is designed to ensure staff are not underreporting their working hours to avoid being forced to rest or take breaks. “Much like the weekly screen time summaries on a smartphone, this tool is about awareness — not enforcement,” it said.
Large investment banks including JPMorgan are well known for the long hours staff at all levels work to meet client demands, but the expectations placed on junior employees have come under particular scrutiny in recent years.
The 2024 death of a junior Bank of America employee – reportedly linked to the stress of working weeks in excess of 100 – prompted the sector to take action. JPMorgan has capped working weeks for junior staff at 80 hours, still nearly double the 48-hour maximum in the UK.
Despite this, there are fears that employees underreport their hours in order not to be taken off deals or overlooked for new ones. Other banks including Goldman Sachs already employ electronic monitoring software, and junior staff have on occasion been told to rest when overwork has been detected.
“Management monitors junior banker staffing and activity levels and regularly adjusts the workloads of our teams,” Goldman said in a statement.
Since the pandemic, workplace surveillance has become increasingly commonplace, despite warnings from campaigners that it can erode trust employees and their employers.
The monitoring software arrives amid broader tensions between JPMorgan’s leadership and its workforce over working conditions. Chief executive Jamie Dimon’s five-day return-to-office mandate, introduced in January 2025, prompted a staff petition signed by around 2,000 employees. Dimon was dismissive of the pushback, telling staff at a town hall meeting: “Don’t waste time on it. I don’t care how many people sign that fucking petition.” Many employees have been reluctant to sign, with one telling the Financial Times they believed doing so would be “career suicide.”
Tom Andrews, senior manager in financial services at Robert Walters, told the Financial Times at the time that investment banking has “long-entrenched cultures of intense hours spent in the office, experienced first-hand by more senior leaders who expect the same commitment from junior staff.”
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