80-hour workweek policy for junior investment bankers at JP Morgan

• Investment Bank JP Morgan rolling out an “80-hour workweek policy” for junior bankers.
• This is still a lot but compared to the typical 100+ hours work week at these investment banks…it is a relief for junior bankers. 
• This decision comes after the tragic death of a 35-year-old former Green Beret turned investment banker at Bank of America.

JPMorgan’s groundbreaking 80-hour workweek cap

JPMorgan just made headlines by capping junior banker hours at a whopping…80 per week!

(In comparison, that’s still double the average American worker’s 40-hour week!)

Working 80 hours a week is still absurdly gruelling. However, The fact that a *cap* like this is being hailed as a major improvement says more about the industry’s harsh reality than anything else.

What does an *average* week under this new policy look like?

• Six days of working from roughly 8:30 a.m. to 10 p.m., with short breaks for meals,
• or 11 hours a day for seven straight days

Also, JPMorgan’s junior bankers get one full weekend off once a quarter! 

This comes on top of the company’s existing “pencils down” policy, which runs from 6 p.m. on Friday to noon on Saturday.

Also read: EY called out by grieving mother: Her 26-year-old daughter overworked to death

But wait, there’s an exception

The company confirmed to Fortune that in most cases, junior bankers won’t be forced to work more than 80 hours unless they are working on “live deals.”

Of course, no corporate policy would be complete without a loophole!

Bank of America has joined the chat

Bank of America has also jumped on the bandwagon to improve working conditions, though details are unclear.

It has introduced a brand-new time reporting tool.

This is supposed to make it harder for junior bankers to downplay their insane work hours.

It will also make managers stick to the bank’s supposed limits.

Bank of America’s solution to curb long hours

According to anonymous sources, junior bankers will soon be asked to log their hours daily through that tool – not weekly.

They have to log what exactly they are working on and who they’re working for.

Bank of America is also encouraging junior bankers to report overwork to human resources or higher-ups.

Also read: Amazon CEO makes it clear: Employees return to office 5 days a week

Tragic death of bankers 

This sudden burst of “concern” comes after the tragic death of Leo Lukenas III. The 35-year-old junior banker at Bank of America passed away from a blood clot earlier this year.

Lukenas had been putting in brutal 110-hour weeks on a $2 billion deal before his untimely death in May 2024.

This is not a first, as nearly a decade ago Moritz Erhardt, a 21-year-old intern in the bank’s London office also died, from an epileptic seizure.

Apparently, he worked until 6 a.m. for three days straight before his body gave up.

Grueling work culture

A Wall Street Journal investigation in August revealed that Bank of America managers were regularly pressuring junior bankers to lie about how many hours they worked.

This probably explains why things haven’t changed all that much.

JP Morgan Team 

J.P. Morgan is a leader in investment banking, commercial banking, financial transaction processing and asset management.

But, is this enough to make a difference?