JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon doesn’t mince words in his message to employees: Get over the fact that work is hard.
Speaking to Patricia Devine, head of global enterprise sales at JPMorgan Chase, in the Businesswomen’s Lounge in Davos, Switzerland, Dimon pointed out the harsh reality faced by employees seeking instant gratification: “Every part of the job has a boring part. Get over it.”
Dimon’s advice is particularly salient at a time when young workers are increasingly alienated. According to Gallup, work engagement among younger workers has shown a significant decline recently, with Gen Z employee engagement falling 5 percentage points between 2024 and 2025. A 2025 report from recruitment firm Randstad also showed that the average tenure of Gen Z employees in their first five years at a company has shrunk to just 1.1 years. This contrasts with the average tenure of 2.9 years for baby boomers early in their careers. While the Randstad study attributed these short-lived jobs to a desire to grow rather than job-hopping, Dimon said young people should stick with their jobs to further their careers. He did not specify how long he recommended young people stay in the workforce.
“Don’t look for a new job,” Dimon said. “Some people always think they’re ruining their lives because they should be enjoying what they’re doing.”
Dimon criticized the preference for work-life balance over other priorities, such as competitive pay and benefit packages, or purpose-driven work. Randstad says work-life balance now dominates workplace conversations and has now surpassed salary as the top motivator for job seekers. Dimon also said work-life balance should be a priority for his employees, especially those with families. But he said it was necessary to “work smart” in order to balance the two.
Still, the CEO said nothing can replace hard work in pursuit of career success.
“Hard work. There’s no substitute,” Dimon said. “I still see a lot of people who think they can find a shortcut to a heroic ‘something.’ That’s almost never true.”
Young workers are entering a very different workforce than older generations. Many Gen Zers have reached working age during the coronavirus pandemic and believe remote or hybrid work has become the norm. However, Dimon said this mentality could be detrimental to career advancement, telling Gen Z employees “you can’t learn in a basement” after urging corporate employees to return to full-time in-person work, adding that the move would drive employee innovation.
