Good Morning!
In the face of employee backlash over JPMorgan Chase’s 5-day-a-week return to work mandate, company leaders are hoping their new Manhattan headquarters—and the smart tech inside of it—will entice workers back.
Located at 270 Park Avenue, the building’s lighting aims to replicate a worker’s circadian rhythm—growing brighter or dimmer and changing color or pulse depending on the time of day. When employees register for a conference room, their temperature preferences will be included, and employee coffee preferences will be tracked.
Advanced tech isn’t the only perk. Much like a hotel, the new building will feature a “signature scent.” The company’s large corporate art collection (featuring gifts from David Rockefeller) will also be on display, as well as generative artwork that comes to life and moves when guests walk past.
The firm also created a 19-restaurant food court for employees, which Arena says is “like the modern version of an Eataly.” Food can be delivered on-demand straight to employees’ desks. After work, they can take advantage of an Irish pub also located in the building, as well as physical therapy, yoga or meditation classes.
“That’s the job of our group in real estate: Take the friction out of your day and make your day easier,” David Arena, JPMorgan Chase’s head of global real estate, told me when we recently sat down for a video interview. “Why shouldn’t your day be great? Why shouldn’t coming to work be great? Why shouldn’t it be better than being at home? And we kind of love that.”
The first group of around 2,000 employees are scheduled to transition to the building in August. You can see my full video about JPMorgan Chase’s new offices here.
Kristin Stoller
[email protected]
Editor’s note, Feb. 7, 2025: This story has been updated to clarify information about JPMorgan’s future food court.
Around the Table
A round-up of the most important HR headlines.
Elon Musk’s buyout offer has reportedly been accepted by more than 20,000 federal workers. Bloomberg
But a new memo sent out to staffers of the General Services Administration said that layoffs are “likely” after the buyout offer expires later this week. Washington Post
Labor unions and retiree groups are suing the Department of the Treasury to block Elon Musk and DOGE from getting access to the federal payment system. Gizmodo
Watercooler
Everything you need to know from Coins2Day .
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Executive material. The current CEO of Tapestry wasn’t sure before she took the job if she was the “CEO type.” —Lily Mae Lazarus
