JPMorgan’s Dimon Says Government, Businesses Should Support AI-Displaced Workers

JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon said Tuesday (March 24) that the government should incentivize businesses to support employees who get displaced by artificial intelligence, CNBC reported Tuesday.

Speaking at the Hill & Valley Forum in Washington, D.C., Dimon said government incentives could support employer measures such as retraining, early retirement, or moving employees to other positions, according to the report.

Referring to the economic impact of AI, Dimon said, per the report: “It’s coming, it’s going to come quickly. This one may be quicker … so therefore, can we accommodate the people if they lose their jobs quick enough? And the answer is, I don’t know that’s going to happen, [but] I always like to be prepared.”

CNBC reported in February that Dimon said AI is already displacing employees at JPMorgan Chase and that the bank has “huge redeployment plans” for those who are affected, so it can offer them new jobs.

While there have been changes in the bank’s workforce, the bank’s headcount was essentially unchanged over the past year, according to the report. Over that time, JPMorgan Chase reduced the number of operations and support roles and added roles that cater to clients and generate revenue.

Dimon said then, too, that businesses and government should address the impact of AI.

“Society’s got to think through what it wants to do if this becomes that kind of problem,” he said. “Now is the time to start thinking about it.”

PYMNTS reported in February that if AI increases output per employee, companies face a capital allocation decision whether to scale headcount in parallel or improve efficiency and margins.

Reporting shortly after Block announced that it would cut roughly 4,000 jobs, or close to 40% of its workforce, PYMNTS noted that Block’s move suggested a shift toward operating leverage.

On March 15, ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott said that college graduates could struggle to find work due to AI and that unemployment for new college graduates “could easily go into the mid-30s in the next couple of years.”

“So much of the work is going to be done by agents,” McDermott said. “So it’s going to be challenging for young people to differentiate themselves in the corporate environment.”