A JPMorgan Chase employee, Nicolas Welch, was briefly fired after publicly questioning CEO Jamie Dimon about the bank’s return-to-office (RTO) policy during a town hall meeting on February 12. However, his termination was later reversed following intervention from higher management, according to a report by Fortune.
Welch, an analyst in tech operations at JPMorgan Chase since 2017, was among those affected by the bank’s new mandate, which requires all 317,000 employees to return to the office five days a week starting next month. Until now, about 40% of the workforce had been allowed to work from home two days a week. Welch, who is going through a divorce and has family and childcare responsibilities, questioned Dimon during the town hall in Columbus, Ohio, asking whether managers should have the flexibility to decide the in-office requirements for their teams.
During his question, Welch acknowledged Dimon’s leadership but explained that his seven-member team operates across different countries and time zones, making physical office presence unnecessary for productivity. He suggested that the decision about office attendance should be left to individual managers. His comments were met with applause from his coworkers, but Dimon rejected the idea, saying, “There is no chance that I would leave that up to managers. Zero chance. The abuse that took place was extraordinary,” referring to inefficiencies he associated with remote work. Dimon also criticized employees for wasting time on Zoom meetings and mentioned that the bank’s workforce had grown by 50,000 in recent years. He dismissed a petition signed by employees urging the bank to reconsider the mandate, saying, “I don’t care how many people sign that f—ing petition.”
Soon after the meeting, Welch received a message from Garrett Monaghan, a Vice President in JPMorgan Chase’s Technology Employee Support Services (TESS) division, instructing him to report to his desk immediately. When Welch arrived, he was confronted by Monaghan and another executive, Jeffrey Todd Merrill. According to Welch, Monaghan accused him of “dragging our whole organization through the mud” and ordered him to leave the building, which he did after gathering his belongings.
For several hours, Welch believed he had been fired. He contacted his manager, Richard Cundiff, but received no clarification. It wasn’t until later in the day, around 4:30 p.m., that Megan Mead, JPMorgan Chase’s executive director of global IT support, called Welch to inform him that he still had his job. She assured him she had “smoothed things over” with Monaghan. Later, Monaghan sent Welch a text message apologizing for the incident and inviting him for a beer and a handshake.
JPMorgan Chase clarified that Welch was never officially dismissed. A company spokesperson told Fortune that Welch “didn’t say anything wrong in the town hall.” Welch’s manager, Cundiff, also confirmed that Welch had not been fired but declined to comment further.
Although Welch was reinstated, he remains frustrated with the situation and the bank’s RTO policy. He expressed his desire to continue doing the job he loves in a way that suits him, telling Fortune, “That’s what I hope to get out of all this.”
The incident has sparked discussions among JPMorgan Chase employees, with some praising Welch for speaking up. He has even been dubbed the “Voice of America” by some of his coworkers.
This controversy highlights the growing tensions surrounding return-to-office policies at major corporations, as employees continue to push back against rigid mandates in favor of more flexible work arrangements.
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