Jamie Dimon Explains Why He Is Raising The Wage For Some JPM Workers From $10.15 To $12 Or More
By Tyler Durden
In an op-ed originally posted by Jamie Dimon in the NYT, the JPM CEO explains that what is plaguing the US is not anger at bailed out banks, some of which like HSBC were confirmed to have been “too big to prosecute” and hatred of crony capitalism which has bailed out banks like, oops, JPMorgan, and is instead mostly due to “wage stagnation and income inequality”, which according to Dimon is due to minimum wage pressures. We kept looking for some additional comments about how the average Wall Street CEOs on average made 124 times the average worker at the banks, but couldn’t find it. Instead we read many words why raising the wage for a tiny subset of JPM workers who still make $10.15 to $12 or even, gasp, $16.50, should fix the US.
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Jamie Dimon: Why We’re Giving Our Employees a Raise
WAGE stagnation. Income inequality. A lack of quality education. Insufficient training and skills development.
Issues like these have led approximately two-thirds of Americans to believe that the next generation will be worse off than the last. And it is true that too many people are not getting a fair opportunity to get ahead. We must find ways to help them move up the economic ladder, and everyone — business, government and nonprofits — needs to play a role.
At JPMorgan Chase, we’re starting by giving thousands of employees a raise.
Our minimum salary for American employees today is $10.15 an hour (plus meaningful benefits, which I’ll explain later), almost $3 above the current national minimum wage. Over the next three years, we will raise the minimum pay for 18,000 workers to $12 to $16.50 an hour, depending on geographic and market factors.
A pay increase is the right thing to do. Wages for many Americans have gone nowhere for too long. Many employees who will receive this increase work as bank tellers and customer service representatives. Above all, it enables more people to begin to share in the rewards of economic growth.
And it’s good for our company, helping us attract and retain talented people in a competitive environment. While businesses, including ours, are understandably cautious when it comes to expenses, there are good expenses (investments that will pay off in the long run) and bad expenses (waste and inefficiencies). We have never hesitated to invest aggressively if we thought it would improve our long-term prospects.
While a higher wage is important, so are benefits. Our lower-compensated employees receive a medical plan — subsidized up to 90 percent by the company — as well as dental, vision and other coverage. Many of these and other benefits, including a 401(k), pension, a special annual award, paid family leave, paid vacation and bereavement, have been increased in recent years. In total, the annualized value of all of our benefits for these employees is on average approximately $11,000 a year above their existing wages.
It is true that some businesses cannot afford to raise wages right now. But every business can do its …read more
Source: Jamie Dimon Explains Why He Is Raising The Wage For Some JPM Workers From $10.15 To $12 Or More
