When a Techie Challenged the Big Boss

In a bold move, a tech worker at a major bank made waves during a company-wide meeting. Nicolas Welch, a tech analyst, sat front row at a town hall in Columbus, Ohio. He asked a simple question. "Why not let team managers decide if their teams need to be in the office? " Welch works with a team spread across four time zones. He believed being in an office didn't matter for his team's productivity. Welch's question sparked a heated response from the CEO, Jamie Dimon. Dimon was against the idea of working from home. He believed it caused problems and inefficiencies. Dimon's response was intense. He said, "There is no chance that I would leave that up to managers. Zero chance. " Welch's question led to a heated exchange. Welch was called to a meeting with his former boss, Garrett Monaghan. Monaghan was upset and told Welch to clean off his desk and leave. Welch assumed he was fired. Welch texted his direct boss, Richard Cundiff, who was in Florida. Cundiff replied, "Thanks for letting me know. " Welch went home and waited. Hours later, he got a call from Megan Mead, who heads up all of global IT support. She told him he wasn't fired and had smoothed things over with Monaghan. Monaghan later apologized to Welch for overreacting. Welch was surprised by the whole situation. He laughed about it on Reddit the next day. Dimon's response to Welch's question was leaked and widely reported. Dimon clarified that he wasn't against working from home as a concept. He believed hybrid working wasn't working for the company. Dimon said, "People said, ‘We moved, we didn’t move’ - we always told people that we were going to be a work-from-the-office type of company. " Dimon also railed against the 'rudeness' of staff fiddling with their phones during Zoom calls. He said it slowed down efficiency and creativity. Dimon acknowledged the need for flexibility, particularly for mothers and caregivers. He said managers failed to manage properly and it got out of hand. Dimon then went off on a tangent about the firm having too much bureaucracy that needed to be reined in. He asked for suggestions from staff. Dimon also addressed a petition against his WFH policy change. He said, "Don’t waste time on it. I don’t care how many people sign that fking petition. " JPMorgan's profits surged to a record in 2024. Some workers questioned why they needed to spend more time in the office.