JP Morgan boss plans for ‘significantly’ less office space

JP Morgan will need “significantly” less office space in coming years, as some staff at the investment bank shift permanently to part-time work at home.

The bank is expected to need just 60 seats per 100 people, boss Jamie Dimon wrote in his annual shareholder letter.

He also warned that the bank is likely to move people out of London and to Europe due to Brexit.

He said Europe “has had, and will continue to have, the upper hand” in Brexit negotiations.

How many move out of the UK depends on still unresolved questions in those talks about how financial services will operate, he said.

“We may reach a tipping point many years out when it may make sense to move all functions that service Europe out of the United Kingdom and into continental Europe,” Mr Dimon said.

In the letter, he warned that the split from Europe will hurt the UK’s economic prospects in the years ahead.

“Brexit was accomplished, but many issues still need to be negotiated. And in those negotiations, Europe has had, and will continue to have, the upper hand, ” he said.

“In the short run (ie, the next few years), this cannot possibly be a positive for the United Kingdom’s GDP.”

His outlook for the UK contrasted with his forecast for the US, where he said a “boom” could run through 2023.