How JPMorgan, Bank of America want to limit long hours in investment banking
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Two of the biggest U.S. investment banks are putting in place new guardrails around the amount of hours that junior employees log every week, Axios has confirmed.
Why it matters: The death of a 35-year-old Bank of America investment banker in May had prompted the industry to evaluate, once again, the viability of the kind of culture that's very specific to this corner of Wall Street.
Driving the news: JPMorgan Chase had been monitoring and tracking junior banker hours for years, but for the first time in August, it began to consider 80 hours a weekly limit, Axios has confirmed.
- At Bank of America, junior bankers will, starting next Monday, log their hours and workloads daily instead of weekly so that senior managers have better awareness of when someone is nearing 80 hours — a metric that had been in place previously.
For context, the BofA banker, Leo Lukenas III, had reportedly been working multiple 100-hour plus weeks before dying of a blood clot in a coronary artery.
The efforts by both banks was first reported Wednesday by WSJ.
Yes, but: Don't call it a cap.
- Industry executives point out to Axios that some senior managers may receive exceptions to assign a junior banker to work beyond 80 hours for deals actively underway.
The big picture: Investment banking jobs have long been viewed as prestigious and coveted due in part to its intense culture and requirements, and the promise of a lucrative finance career.
- The grind, including the long hours, has often been viewed as a rite of passage.
- But Silicon Valley in recent decades has posed a competitive threat to potential Wall Street talent, offering better work-life balance.
- And the pandemic spurred even more people, particularly younger workers, to reevaluate the tradeoffs of work and health.
Between the lines: The tools and guidelines within JPMorgan and BofA come amid a rebound in deal flow this year, throwing into question how the guardrails may impact revenue growth.
- Another unknown is how senior managers will be monitored to follow these guidelines and what consequences they may face if they sidestep formal corporate policies.
- "Our practices are clear and we expect all employees and managers to follow them. When we've learned of violations disciplinary actions have been taken," Bank of America said in a statement to Axios.
What we're watching: With details of these new measures now public, the question is whether other banks follow suit, particularly if successful implementation impacts turnover or recruiting.
- Sources familiar with this issue at Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley tell Axios that their companies will continue to closely monitor hours as they have done historically and adjust hours appropriately and in a personalized fashion.
Disclosure: The reporter was a former employee of Bank of America.
