Friday is the new Saturday.

Nobody says it publicly. But Jamie Dimon did.

For many companies, remote work simply doesn't work. Full stop.

Why?

In this leaked audio from a JPMorgan town hall, Dimon colourfully addresses the problems:

1. Online calls are extremely distracting by design.
"You're on f**ing Zoom and you're doing the following: you're texting each other, sending emails, not paying attention, not reading your stuff."
I'm totally guilty of this.
Almost everyone I know is guilty of it.

2. Nobody knows where anyone is.
"I come in, and where's everybody else? They're here, they're there, the Zooms, the Zoomers don't show up, and they say they cannot get stuff done".
That is not flexibility.
That is chaos.
And chaos clearly doesn't run a great company, sorry.

3. Friday is the new Saturday.
"I call a lot of people on Friday and there’s not a goddamn person I can get ahold of.”
Sadly familiar.

4. Junior employees are paying the price.
That's quite straightforward.
How do younger employees learn from seniors they barely meet?
Today’s juniors are tomorrow’s leaders, and then what?

Then comes the brutal truth:
"If I was running a department of 100 people, I guarantee you, I could run it with 90".

Because those 10 are "here, there, don't show up, don't answer on Fridays", etc.

It's not AI making people redundant. It's this 👆.

Now my take:

Fully remote companies can work.

Because they are designed for it, with clear systems and accountability.

And most importantly, they attract a specific type of worker, who's highly reliable and independent.

The problem is when "traditional" employees at traditional companies start behaving like remote contractors, but still expect full-time job security.

Sorry, but you cannot have it both ways.

1. Meetings should always be in person when people are in the same city.
Remote meetings from two booths in the same office are corporate comedy 😂.

2. Leave 1 or 2 days per week meeting-free for deep work.
That work can sometimes be done better from home.

I’m not hardcore “5 days in the office”.
Working from home has real advantages.

But it needs structure, rules and serious leadership.

No surprise more and more companies are forcing staff back to the office.

I'm not a fan of "forcing", there are better ways, like what I just explained.

But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.