Chief executive officer Jamie Dimon of JPMorgan Chase gave a rather frank reply in response to growing employee pushback about returning to in-office work.
Employees are reportedly circulating a petition against going back to the office 5 days a week.
"Don't waste time on it," Dimon tersely replied when asked about the mandatory in-person work policy during the staff meeting, Reuters reported.
"I don't care how many people sign that f--king petition," he said.
Dimon rolled back hybrid and remote work options at JPMorgan Chase.
Dimon's reply comes on the heels of JPMorgan Chase employees complaining on internal message boards and chats about losing hybrid work options.
One group launched an online petition, which received over 900 signatures, against the five-day policy that would affect more than 317,000 employees.
While the company's profits surged last year, and its share price doubled in the past five years, Dimon accused remote workers of "abuse."
"There is no chance that I will leave [in-office requirements] up to managers," Dimon said. "Zero chance. The abuse that took place is extraordinary."
Instead, Dimon reminded employees that they have the option to leave.
Dimon asked his workforce to focus on practicing "more efficiency."
Dimon has asked the company's departments to show 10% gains in efficiency and said employees can look forward to performance reviews.
"Because of legal and risk, they have to look at it, the regulators might say, there could be litigation around it, so you have to be careful," Dimon said. "I get the thing, I throw it in the goddamned garbage can."
Dimon's stance against remote work comes as a surprise following a growing trend in the American workplace to abandon remote and hybrid work options.
In November, Dimon predicted three-and-a-half-day workweeks due to technology and artificial intelligence.
From President Donald Trump to Wall Street heavy hitters, many industry titans are rolling back remote work.
JPMorgan Chase currently is accepting applications for 14,000 roles.
AT&T, Salesforce, Amazon, and Dell all reneged on their remote work hybrid models an ordered employees to return to the office.
