J. Lawler Duggan/For The Washington Post via Getty Images
- JPMorgan CEO hinted that unvaccinated staff working in the bank’s New York offices could lose their jobs.
- “We’re not going to pay you to not work in the office,” Jamie Dimon told CNBC on Monday.
- The bank adjusted its vaccine policy within its offices to abide with local rules.
JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon suggested that unvaccinated staff working in the bank’s New York offices could lose their jobs if they don’t get vaccinated against COVID-19.
“If you aren’t going to get vaxxed, you won’t be able to work in that office. We’re not going to pay you to not work in the office,” Dimon said in an appearance on CNBC’s ‘The Exchange’ on Monday.
Unlike it’s Wall Street Rivals, JPMorgan hasn’t previously required staff to be vaccinated – instead it urged them to. However Dimon said the bank was adjusting its vaccine policy within its offices to follow local rules.
“We’re not trying to be consistent,” Dimon said. “There are different laws and different requirements and cities and states and schools and so here we’re adjusting locally.”
Since December 27, all public sector companies in New York have to seek proof of vaccination status from their employees, under a vaccine mandate introduced by then mayor Bill de Blasio.
The bank had already introduced rules that only vaccinated visitors were allowed to enter its nine New York offices, in light of a mask mandate reintroduced by New York governor Kathy Hochul, until January 15, according to a memo, seen by Insider, sent to New York staff on December 13.
“We are taking this step because we have very high rates of vaccination amongst our employees. With rates well above 90%, it seems unfair to require our vaccinated employees to wear masks all day at their desks,” the memo read.
Unvaccinated staff were asked to work from home temporarily until “alternative solutions are considered”, said the memo.
Dimon, who is also the bank’s chairman, told CNBC that 97% of the bank’s New York staff were currently vaccinated.
A spokesperson for the bank declined to comment further on Dimon’s comments.
Employers are starting to crack down on unvaccinated staff amid surging cases of the Omicron variant.
Last week, fellow Wall Street bank Citigroup gave staff until January 14 to get vaccinated, or face being fired at the end of the month.
United Airlines, Mayo Clinic and New York healthcare provider Northwell Health are among the others to have fired unvaccinated staff.
On Monday Meta, formerly Facebook, announced that all staff working in person will need to have received a booster shot before returning to the office in March.
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