Investment Banking

‘The switch has flipped’: JPMorgan leads the charge to overhaul junior bankers’ brutal hours

The Wall Street bank has put a cap on its juniors’ working weeks, but will anything really change when a deal is on the line?

Junior banker burnout has been a major talking point since the pandemic deal boom
Junior banker burnout has been a major talking point since the pandemic deal boom Photo: Getty Images

JPMorgan chief executive Jamie Dimon told investors in May that the bank was seeing “what can we learn” about the way its junior bankers work following the death of Bank of America associate Leo Lukenas. The banker’s death prompted renewed scrutiny of the brutal hours clocked by those on the lowest rung of the industry.

The Wall Street bank is so far leading the way on change. In September, it rolled out a cap on its juniors’ working weeks at 80 hours — if they’re not on a live deal — and has now also installed a senior banker to oversee the “well-being and success” of its analysts and associates. 

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