JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon says the bank will only need office capacity for 60% of employees post-pandemic

• JPMorgan CEO Jamie Dimon isn't planning a full office when his company ends remote work.
• "For every 100 employees, we may need seats for only 60 on average," he said in a letter to investors.
• As a result, Dimon said, "This will significantly reduce our need for real estate."

When JPMorgan Chase employees return to the office, it's likely to look a lot more empty than it did before the pandemic.

That's because America's largest bank is making drastic changes to its office layout and capacity, CEO Jamie Dimon said in his annual letter.

"We will quickly move to a more 'open seating' arrangement, in which digital tools will help manage seating arrangements, as well as needed amenities, such as conference room space," Dimon said. "As a result, for every 100 employees, we may need seats for only 60 on average."

As a result, the banking giant is expecting a major reduction in required office real estate (though it remains committed to a new Manhattan headquarters that's in the works for 2024).

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That doesn't mean the company is embracing remote work in the long term: Just 10% of the bank's roughly 250,000 worldwide employees are expected to work remote on a full-time basis, Dimon said.

Most employees will still work in an office or banking branch location on a full time basis, with some employees "working under a hybrid model" - a mix of remote and in-office work.

Dimon highlighted the struggles his company has faced across the last year with so many employees working remote: From difficulty onboarding new employees to a lack of "spontaneous learning and creativity" that comes from interacting with other people in person.

JPMorgan was among the first companies to test remote work as reports of coronavirus spreading in the US began in early 2020. The company initially sent home just 10% of its workforce before the onset of the pandemic forced companies and schools to go fully remote.

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