MIAMI Reuters -- JPMorgan Chase Co, the largest U.S. lender, plans to hire more than 500 bankers catering to small businesses through 2024, the company said on Wednesday.
The bank's workforce of small businesses will be boosted by 20% from more than 2,300 currently.
Ben Walter, JPMorgan's chief executive officer of business banking, said in a statement that small business owners are facing difficult challenges with persistent inflation, supply chain disruptions, and expense pressure. The company intends to support them through the business cycle, and added staffing shows that they are part of the company's intent to support them through the business cycle. Two-thirds of small business owners surveyed by JPMorgan believe that there will be a recession this year but they are optimistic, with 65% expecting higher profits and two-thirds seeing increased sales.
Wall Street giants, including Morgan Stanley and Goldman Sachs, have cut thousands of jobs as a result of the worsening outlook on dealmaking, while mortgage lenders have also trimmed staff. As a potential recession looms, the tech industry has announced tens of thousands of layoffs.
Major lenders are hiring in some areas. In September, JPMorgan's global chief information officer Lori Beer told Reuters that the company planned to add about 2,000 engineers worldwide amid fierce competition for talent. The bank's global headcount increased by 8% to 293,723 last year.