Good morning. Attracting and retaining employees remains top of mind for C-suite leaders—and for JPMorgan Chase, this includes newly recruited recent graduates.
The largest bank in the U.S. has warned incoming analysts that they will be fired if they accept another job offer within a year and a half of joining, Fortune’s Eleanor Pringle reports. This reinforces CEO Jamie Dimon’s view grads accepting an analyst role at JPMorgan but intending to leave for private equity within a few years is behavior that is unethical.
An email sent last week by JPMorgan’s co-heads of global banking to welcome new graduates starting this summer had a stern warning: “If you accept a position with another company before joining us or within your first 18 months, you will be provided notice and your employment with the firm will end.”
The email was sent only to new employees in the U.S., Pringle writes, mostly because the issue of talent accepting future roles is more prevalent stateside than in other geographies. The policy aims to protect the bank from conflicts of interest and leaks of confidential information, while also making internal career advancement more attractive. Prior to last week’s update, the bank already maintained a robust stance on talent moving elsewhere.
While job-hopping remains a visible trend, especially among younger workers, it no longer guarantees a significant salary boost or career advantage as it did in previous years. Many recent graduates are also concerned about the uncertain economy.
According to the recent 2025 State of the Graduate report from the employment website Monster, three out of four (75%) graduates worry that the economy will impact their job prospects, up from 69% last year.
Meanwhile, 80% of graduates surveyed are concerned about job security while seeking employment in the current market, compared to 77% in 2024. The findings are based on a survey of 1,000 U.S. adults who are new and impending college graduates.
The research also found that business (24%) is the most popular field in which graduates intend to pursue a career. Other top areas include healthcare (18%), computer technology (18%), finance (17%), education (16%), and artificial intelligence (15%).
This reflects strategic career planning based on sectors that showed resilience during recent economic challenges, noted Giacomo Santangelo, an economist at Monster.
So, seemingly, many junior analysts landing a coveted role at JPMorgan may not be looking to jump ship very quickly. However, for younger employees in general, there are still factors that could prompt them to leave—47% would quit a job if their workplace became toxic, and 39% would leave to seek a healthier work-life balance, according to Monster.
JPMorgan does want to make itself an attractive place for young talent to grow their careers. For instance, analysts can now be promoted to associate after just two and a half years in the training program, instead of the previous three-year timeline, Pringle reports.
How are you working to retain early career, high-potential finance and accounting talent? I’d love to hear your strategies—send me an email.
Sheryl Estrada
sheryl.estrada@fortune.com
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