JPMorgan plans to lay off 63 employees in Jersey City according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification (WARN) issued July 11. WARN notices are mandated under U.S. labor law and require companies with 100 or more employees providing 60 days’ advance notice in case of plant closings or mass layoffs; in JPMorgan’s case its workforce had reached 296,877 by Q1 2015 – up 8% year-on-year.
JPMorgan informed its workers in its retail and consumer banking, credit cards, investment banking and markets departments of its plans for mass layoffs. Affected employees will have the chance to apply for other roles within the firm or transfer between branches; layoffs are expected to commence this September. In May, America’s largest lender said they might lay off 500 employees across multiple departments before downsizing First Republic Bank staff due to acquisition complications this year and cutting nearly 40 investment banking jobs across North America due to decreased dealmaking activity.
Goldman Sachs Group, Morgan Stanley and Citigroup have also reduced headcount in response to economic instability in recent months. JPMorgan follows this general trend but also expanded startup-fostering efforts by hiring John China a 27-year veteran from Silicon Valley Bank who co-leads its innovation economy business alongside Melissa Smith of their commercial banking unit for specialized industries in March in an attempt to expand tech-focused businesses within its firm and build its global presence.
