WILMINGTON — Reports indicate JPMorgan Chase & Co. will return to the office five days a week this year, which may generate a big shake-up in Wilmington’s business district soon.
Earlier this month, Bloomberg and Reuters reported that the largest U.S. bank was preparing to notify its 300,000 people around the world it would be replacing its existing three-day mandate to five days a week. An internal memo seen by news agencies indicates this policy would go into effect in March, returning JPMorgan to the attendance policy that was in place before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The move may have a significant impact on Wilmington which counts on the finance sector as its largest employment base. Many of those institutions currently maintain a flexible in-office policy. While Wilmington Mayor John Carney has not had any direct conversations with JPMorgan officials about the policy, he thinks the possibility was a move in the right direction for the city.
“I understand where Jamie [Dimon, JPMorgan CEO] is coming from and, frankly for us, that’s a really good thing because when the employees of Chase don’t live in the city, they get credit to their wage tax and that reduces our ability to provide services in the city,” he said.
Wilmington charges a 1.25% wage tax on gross wages for employees and it’s the single largest source of revenue for the city. In Fiscal Year 2025, the city budgeted for $77 million in wage tax – up from the $60 million in FY 2018.
JPMorgan Chase is Delaware’s third largest employer with 11,300 people, according to Delaware Business Times records. About 6,500 live in the state.
Those employees work out of locations spread across downtown Wilmington, the Fairfax suburbs and Stanton. The banking titan has also “invested millions of dollars” in upgrades including its Wilmington Corporate Center high rise off North Walnut Street in a bid to welcome employees back to work.
A spokesperson for JPMorgan declined to comment on the new-again policy and its impact on Wilmington. But Dimon has not been shy in his interest in returning to office full-time, citing that staff work better together in person.
As the chief of the largest U.S. bank with $3.6 trillion assets, his opinion may also sway the rest of corporate America with him. Other companies like Amazon and Morgan Stanley have already started to return to the office full-time.
But in Wilmington, it’s hard to predict how the rest of the business district will respond, although WSFS Bank started the year by moving to four days a week in the office. WSFS associates work on two schedules with most now operating on four days in the office, including the 260 employees that work out of the bank center on Delaware Avenue in Wilmington while senior leaders are now in the office five days a week.
The city’s largest law firm, Richards, Layton & Finger has already made the jump to four days a week well before 2025.
Three days a week in the office continues to be the norm as Barclays and Capital One have no plans to change their policy. M&T Bank and its subsidiary Wilmington Trust still holds to its three-day-a-week in-office policy for its non-retail branch workers.
Carney also acknowledged that bringing people back to work was not just about maintaining Wilmington’s strong wage tax revenue, it was about encouraging a vibrant city.
“From the sandwich shop to the dry cleaner, it’s important to have people at work,” he said. “I’m glad to hear about [Chase], I know it’s a challenging issue. But having people at their desks in the city is important for our ability to keep our vitality strong.”
