Pros

Stable company; average to better benefits; bank holidays

Cons

I should first off point out that I am a former WaMu employee and, yes, I am scheduled to be laid off, and the JPMC takeover brought unprecedented changes to our work environment. That being said, I've seen enough to have a very good idea of how JPMC operates. I am so very glad that my function was not needed and a job not offered...I'd hate to have to choose between working here or looking for a job I can love (or at least like) in the current job market. It is basically a top-down organization and what you hear from above is what you will do, no matter what. No one listens to reason or tempers expectations based on realities. So...if you like to be told exactly what to do and by when it must be done and don't bother suggesting anything different thank you very much, work here. If you are goal oriented and appreciate flexibility in how you meet job expectations, if you like opportunity for personal development and growth, if you want to feel like the company cares about YOU, then don't work here.

Advice to Senior Management

While it is probably difficult in a company of this size, you must find a way to overcome the bureaucracies and silos that impede your ability to efficiently meet company objectives. Empower your corporate underlings instead of treating them as incapable of independent thought.

Pros

-Strong, admirable company to work for.
-Competant management team.
-Great time off benefits (4 weeks of vacation for all salaried employees)

Cons

-Conservative with promotions.
-Compensation (salary) is on the low end of the bell curve.

Advice to Senior Management

-Be more competitive with wages.

Pros

Great technology, excellent internal resources, excellent call centers, great benefits.

Cons

1 mistake, 1 boot out the door...no respect or credibility from managers...very big corporate firm, so very easy to replace employees with or without notice.

Advice to Senior Management

show respect as you demand it in return

Pros

Employees are nice (not everywhere)
Relatively easy job.
benefits coverage for part time employees
flexible time whenever it is needed. (part time)

Cons

long hours
little pay
little advancement to a higher position
have to be a very loyal employee to be promoted or to get a raise.

Advice to Senior Management

offer more of a lateral raise, and increase wage accordingly. Reward loyal employees who have been with the company for a long time.

Pros

steady pay, nice coworkers, management is nice

Cons

management takes themselves too seriously which is frustrating at times.

Advice to Senior Management

stop allowing lower level management to treat tellers so poorly like they are minions or something. most of the personal bankers don't even have degrees.

Pros

Very relaxed atmosphere to work in. The management is focused on helping you improve your career and build experiences that will take you to your next level. All three managers I had the privilege to work with had been extremely helpful in communicating what they needed from me and helped me along during my stay there. The work can be slow sometimes but you can almost expect to work 40 hours a week and go back to your family on a regularly basis.

Cons

As mentioned above, the work can be slow at times and you find yourself looking for things to do. This can be a beneficial thing when trying to balance work and personal life.

Advice to Senior Management

I was say, at least from my perspective, please keep up the great work when communicating with your employees and giving feedback. This is one of the things that made me absolutely love working for JP Morgan.

Pros

The benefits package is great. Included four weeks vacation right away and good sick time/personal time as well. Decent salary for just coming in outside the company. The company looks favorably on promoting from within in any position higher then a branch manager. You pretty much can't come from outside the company on the retail side and get anything higher then this, so future opportunity is good. Huge bonus potential.

Cons

It's still a giant corporation and at the end of the day, you're just a number creating more numbers. Like all the big banks, it's strictly product driven and about how many you can get for each customer walking through the door.

Advice to Senior Management

Overall, management is doing a pretty good job considering the current economic condition the country is in. If stock levels are any indicator I'd recommend not changing a thing!

Pros

High quality of senior management shines through.

Cons

Salary can be below par when compared to similar companies within the same market. Promotion and compensation reviews are far too political, sometimes at the expense of high performing and loyal employees.

Advice to Senior Management

Pay more attention to talent retention. Reward loyalty and hard work more evenly.

Pros

Good vacation/sick time
Good base pay

Cons

Constantly changing schedules
Merger with Washington Mutual could have been better

Advice to Senior Management

Practice what you preach, yes retail branch banking is a sales environment, but doing what is right for the customer and meeting sales goals are way off.

Pros

A very strong company, clearly moving in the right direction to continue advancing as a leader in the industry, certainly.

Cons

A divided, siloed, very large company which can become frustrating when something needs to change and you don't know how to find the person to help effect the change.

Advice to Senior Management

Though your divisions within the company are logical, they produce redundancy and confusion for the organization at a whole. It behooves you to change the model to realize increased efficiences of scale.