JPMorgan to hire more junior bankers to battle burnout - source

FILE PHOTO: A sign outside JP Morgan Chase & Co. offices is seen in New York City, U.S., March 29, 2021. REUTERS/Brendan McDermid

(Reuters) - JPMorgan Chase & Co is set to hire more junior bankers and support staff to tackle burnout as the largest U.S. bank takes on record volumes of activity, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Wednesday.

The bank has hired about 90 junior bankers and support staff, and will hire a 100 more globally, the source said.

The financial sector is suffering a surge in mental health issues exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic, with senior bankers responding to the extra strain by rolling out additional help for junior staff.

JPMorgan is also encouraging more personal time for employees to be offline and will enforce many policies already in place to protect weekends and provide extra flexibility for junior bankers.   

Goldman Sachs Group Inc's chief last month responded to complaints from junior bankers by saying the management is going to work harder to give them Saturdays off and to shift bankers from other divisions to the busiest teams in the investment bank.

JPMorgan also plans to conduct a quarterly review to evaluate how junior bankers are spending their time and will hold senior management accountable in their performance reviews and year-end compensation.

Additionally, every group head is required to call two to three junior bankers daily and ask "what's working and what's not?"

The initiatives were first reported by Financial News on Wednesday.

(Reporting by Noor Zainab Hussain and Niket Nishant in Bengaluru; Editing by Devika Syamnath)

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