JPMorgan Chase ($JPM) has a steady decline in job openings fueled by a significant drop in Home Lending and Commercial Banking positions, but is also being stabilized by Wealth Management and fintech roles within the company. That follows a trend we've been seeing across the industry; the increased reliance on jobs that lead to automation of fiscal management and banking processes.
The multinational bank saw its job openings decrease by over 1,000 listings since last July, representing a drop of over 10% year-to-date.
Within this drop, job openings for its Home Lending and Commercial Banking divisions took the biggest tumble.
Last quarter, JPMorgan Chase saw a year-over-year decrease in net revenue —from $1.509 billion to $1.346 in Q1 — for its Home Lending division. From the start of that quarter until today, the number of job openings tagged for its Home Lending group have fallen substantially. The division once had over 200 listings but as of July 10, there were just 29 new openings.
Positions that specify a role within the company's investment banking unit also saw a decline in line with decreased revenues year over year. Alongside a net income drop in comparable quarters of over $700 million, JPMorgan Chase shrunk the number of Investment Banking positions — those that were specifically labeled as such in the title — from 76 at the beginning of the year to just 36 as of July 10.
Curiously enough, the company's Commercial Banking unit saw an increase in revenue and income in Q1, yet over the past month, the number of open listings for the group fell by near triple digits.
Weirder still, JPMorgan Chase's Wealth Management unit technically posted a decrease when comparing Q1 earnings year-over-year, yet its continuing to show a consistent pattern of job openings.
As for fintech roles — positions that include terms such as "AI" and "Machine Learning" in the title — they also remain steady alongside Wealth Management job listings.
The company is also expected to answer several questions regarding current events and its effect on trading revenues. CEO Jamie Dimon warned investors in late May about this estimated decrease, with the company seeing a 4-5% decrease in trading revenues within the first two months of the second quarter (excluding a gain).
While JPMorgan Chase is making headlines for other reasons —the company is connected to a ship that had over $1 billion worth of cocaine on it, and it also missed on a big payday from a would-be Budweiser IPO in Asia — these trends are slipping under the radar. As the company heads into earnings, it may be wise to keep these changes in job openings in mind, especially when the company reports the specific revenues for all of its divisions.
About the Data:
Thinknum tracks companies using information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales.
Further Reading:
- Goldman Sachs staffs up for the future of banking
- Hiring data indicates that Bank of America is replacing branch staff
- Citigroup's wild 2019 of hiring continues with focus on Asia, Middle East