- Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, wants employees to stop checking emails during meetings, labeling the habit as disrespectful and unproductive. In his annual shareholder letter, Dimon also shared broader workplace advice, from avoiding jargon to maintaining a work-life balance, and commented on economic issues like global tariffs.
Jamie Dimon wants employees to stop checking their emails during meetings.
In his annual shareholder letter published on Monday, the CEO of JPMorgan Chase said he wants to stop the “disrespectful” habit of reading emails or texts during meetings.
“I see people in meetings all the time who are getting notifications and personal texts or who are reading emails. This has to stop. It’s disrespectful. It wastes time,” Dimon wrote. Instead, he urged employees to “make meetings count,” saying he always gives discussions 100% of his focus.
The prominent banking CEO also had other workplace advice for employees, encouraging them to “work smarter, not longer.”
“Don’t read the same email two or three times. Most can be addressed immediately. And while this all sounds serious, make work fun. We spend the vast majority of our waking hours at work — it’s our job to try to make it fun and fulfilling,” he wrote. “And another important one: Take care of yourself. If you don’t take care of yourself, it doesn’t work.”
He also advised employees to “avoid management pablum” and get “rid of the jargon” calling it a “pet peeve.”
Dimon has been known for his strong opinions on workplace culture, especially remote work. He’s historically been a strong advocate for returning to the office. JPMorgan Chase requires workers to be back in the office five days a week. Earlier this year, in a leaked audio recording of a JPMorgan town hall, Dimon could be heard venting his frustration over remote work in an eight-minute rant.
Recently he’s slightly softened his tone on working from home, acknowledging that individuals have the right to prioritize flexible arrangements but maintaining that companies ultimately decide what works best for them.
Dimon addressed several other things in the letter, including Trump’s global tariffs, which have wreaked havoc on the stock market recently. The CEO called for a more moderate approach from the administration, writing that the economy is facing “considerable turbulence” and citing the potential fallout of an escalating trade war.
“The quicker this issue is resolved, the better because some of the negative effects increase cumulatively over time and would be hard to reverse,” Dimon wrote in his letter, joining the growing list of business leaders opposing Trump’s tariffs. Bill Ackman and Elon Musk have also voiced opposition to the sweeping global tariffs.