How Bossware in Banking is Tracking Finance Talent Health

JPMorgan Chase has launched a pilot programme designed to monitor the working hours of its junior investment bankers, aiming to prevent staff from excessive overwork.

The system reportedly tracks video calls, keystrokes and meeting activity, combining this data with employees’ self-reported hours to provide the bank with a clearer picture of overall workloads.

Although the firm has implemented limits on working hours in recent years, the Financial Times reports that some employees understate their hours to avoid being instructed to rest or removed from key deals. 

A representative from JPMorgan Chase says: “Much like the weekly screen time summaries on a smartphone, this tool is about awareness – not enforcement.

“It’s designed to support transparency, wellbeing and encourage open conversations about workload.”

A cap on working hours

In 2024, JPMorgan Chase announced a limit of 80 working hours per week for its employees, with exceptions granted for those involved in live deals or other highly time-sensitive projects.

The decision was made to enhance employee wellbeing, the company said, following reports that junior staff sometimes logged more than 100 hours a week during periods of intense workload.

Before this, JPMorgan Chase had rolled out additional initiatives to support staff, including a ‘Pencils Down’ period – from 6pm on Fridays to 12pm on Saturdays – and a guaranteed one weekend off per quarter.

Despite the new cap, the 80-hour threshold remains double that of a standard full-time schedule, often requiring employees to work more than 12 hours a day or across all seven days of the week.

The rise of ‘Bossware’

According to research from the Chartered Management Institute, around a third of UK employers now use ‘bossware’ – employee monitoring software that tracks staff computer activity.

Bank of America introduced a timekeeping tool in 2024 requiring junior investment bankers to log their hours daily, alongside details of the deals they are working on and their capacity to take on additional work.

The bank has said the software enables its teams to “more efficiently serve our investment banking clients”.

Can RTO improve employee wellbeing? 

As banks such as JPMorgan Chase introduce new policies to improve employee wellbeing, they are simultaneously pushing ahead with large-scale return to office (RTO) mandates.

A KPMG survey found that almost half of financial services leaders plan to track attendance using office card swipe systems, with 29% saying they intend to install digital cameras.

Jamie Dimon, CEO of JPMorgan Chase, has argued that encouraging employees back into the office will support their wellbeing over the long term.

In 2025, the bank instructed staff to return to the office five days a week, ending hybrid arrangements that had allowed nearly half of employees to split their time between home and the workplace.

Nearly 2,000 JPMorgan Chase employees signed a public petition urging the bank to retain its hybrid work model.

In response to Bloomberg, Jamie said he believes staff “will be happier over time,” as “you can’t learn working from your basement.”

He said: “I gave a very detailed answer about why [work from home] doesn’t work for young people, why it doesn’t work for management, why it doesn’t work for innovation.

“I completely applaud your right to not want to go to the office every day. But you’re not going to tell JPMorgan what to do.”