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The leader of America\u2019s biggest bank<\/a> wants to see schools doing more to bring students up to pace with the working world, instead of leaving it to businesses to bridge the gap. <\/p>\n Jamie Dimon<\/a> has long been an advocate of getting younger people into well-paid positions, and believes schools should be monitored on whether their students land careers<\/a> after they graduate as opposed to whether they go to college. <\/p>\n This week Dimon\u2014who oversees more than 240,000 employees<\/a> worldwide\u2014doubled down on that stance. <\/p>\n \u201cBusinesses have to hire a lot of people and they have to train them, so when the school system doesn\u2019t do it, it makes this harder for companies,\u201d he told Axios<\/a> in an interview released Thursday. <\/p>\n \u201cWhat you need in a lot of these things is, certificates and training that get them the good job.\u201d<\/p>\n Dimon\u2014who was paid a record $36 million for his work in 2023<\/a>\u2014also pushed back on the notion that his work to get younger people and underrepresented communities into the workplace is a diversity, equity and inclusion (DEI) exercise. <\/p>\n The Harvard Business School graduate was speaking in relation to his position as the executive chairman of the New York Jobs CEO Council\u2014a coalition of some of the largest employers in the Big Apple.<\/p>\n Also on the board is Amazon CEO Andy Jassy<\/a> and Alphabet CEO Sundar Pichai<\/a>.<\/p>\n A father of three, Dimon rejected the implication that his work on the council was linked to DEI\u2014a topic which has split opinion among the nation\u2019s top CEOs.<\/p>\n The JPMorgan Chase<\/a> chairman said he was \u201cnot interested in labels\u201d and added the jobs council had \u201cnothing to do with DEI.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cThis has to do with the system isn\u2019t working and needs to be fixed,\u201d he said. \u201cIt is part of our job [as CEOs and companies] to lift up society. You call that whatever you want\u2026 If we leave behind whole parts of society, we\u2019re making a huge mistake for our country.\u201d<\/p>\n Dimon\u2019s sentiments echo thoughts he shared earlier this year about what factors should be considered when establishing whether a school is of good quality. <\/p>\n He told Indianapolis-based\u00a0WISH-TV<\/a> in March: \u201cIf you look at kids they gotta be educated to get jobs. Too much focus in education has been on graduating college\u2026 It should be on jobs. I think the schools should be measured on, did the kids get out and get a good job?\u201d<\/p>\n Dimon pointed out that a 17-year-old bank teller could make $40,000 a year, adding: \u201cAnd if you happen to have a family at 18 or whatever, you get $20,000 in medical benefit for your family. You can be a welder, you can be a coder, you could be cyber you could be automotive\u2014all of those jobs are $40,000 to $60,000, $70,000 a year.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cJobs, jobs, jobs,\u201d Dimon repeated. \u201cThere are a lot of efforts taking place around the country but I think we\u2019ve fallen behind as a nation.\u201d<\/p>\n It seems students themselves are also thinking differently<\/a> about what they want to get out of their education. <\/p>\n Education data specialists National Clearing House reported<\/a> in January that undergraduate enrollment grew 1.2% in the fall of 2023\u2014the first time since the onset of the pandemic. <\/p>\n But within that picture is significant growth in vocational subjects\u2014courses designed to help students learn in a practical way to prepare them for a skills-based role. <\/p>\n The database reported that at community colleges with a high vocational program focus, enrollment grew 16% in the same period, bringing them above fall 2019 levels. <\/p>\n\nJudging school quality<\/h2>\n
Changing attitudes <\/h2>\n