JPMorgan Chase has reportedly introduced a system to track junior bankers’ self-reported working hours with data captured from internal IT systems. This move by America’s largest bank comes as part of an effort to monitor workload among its junior employees and address their concerns about overwork. The initiative, which JPMorgan plans to expand across its investment bank, is positioned as a tool for visibility rather than discipline, the report claimed.
A report by The Financial Times, citing people familiar with the matter, said that under a pilot programme, the bank is sharing reports with junior employees that estimate their weekly working hours based on digital activity such as video calls, keystrokes, and scheduled meetings.
In a statement to FT, the bank said, “Much like the weekly screen time summaries on a smartphone, this tool is about awareness — not enforcement. It’s designed to support transparency, well-being, and encourage open conversations about workload.”
How Wall Street banks are tracking junior bankers’ hours as workload concerns grow
Wall Street banks are known for demanding workloads tied to client expectations that can generate multimillion-dollar fees. In return, entry-level analysts and associates can earn salaries of up to $200,000.
The report claims that there has been increased scrutiny of long working hours following the death of a young investment banker at Bank of America two years ago. ;/In a separate case, an intern at the bank died in London in 2013, which a coroner said may have been linked to extended working hours. During the Covid-19 pandemic, first-year Goldman Sachs analysts created a slide deck detailing their long working hours.
In 2024, JPMorgan appointed a senior banker to oversee the well-being of junior staff. The bank has since limited weekend work and capped the working week for younger employees at 80 hours, typically based on self-reported figures.
However, the FT report claims that this system has limitations, as some junior bankers misreport their hours. In some cases, they report fewer hours than they worked to avoid being removed from ongoing deals or to remain eligible for new assignments.
Workplace surveillance tools have become more common since the pandemic, though they remain a point of concern for some employees who view them as intrusive and a potential risk to privacy.
At Goldman Sachs, junior bankers have at times been asked to take breaks when internal monitoring systems flagged high activity levels. “Management monitors junior banker staffing and activity levels and regularly adjusts the workloads of our teams,” Goldman Sachs said in a statement.
Meanwhile, Bank of America introduced a tool in 2024 to track interns’ and junior bankers’ workloads and flag when they exceed 80 hours per week. The system tracks reported work hours weekly and is intended to help distribute workloads based on capacity.
Investment banks are also adopting AI tools to automate or streamline routine tasks assigned to junior bankers, such as preparing pitchbooks, running financial models and summarising earnings calls.
While some younger employees say these tools allow them to focus more on analytical work, such as advising clients on strategy, they have also raised concerns about a possible hiring slowdown across the industry.
