Big Bank Getting Rid Of Voicemail For Some Employees
NEW YORK (AP) — For JPMorgan Chase employees, it might be best not to leave a message.
JPMorgan has ended voicemail services for roughly half of its roughly 136,000 consumer bank employees, in an effort to save money and in recognition that voicemail is slowly being replaced by text messages and emails.
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Chase is one of a small but growing number of large employers that have re-evaluated the need for office voicemail. Coca-Cola Co. gave employees the option to get rid of voicemail late last year.
"We realized that hardly anyone uses voicemail anymore, because we are carrying something in our pockets that get texts, e-mail or a phone call to you," said Gordon Smith, the head of the bank's consumer and community banking division, at an investor conference on Tuesday.
The Chase employees who no longer have voicemail are those who do not work directly with customers, such as in information technology or operations. In some company departments that only interact with other bank employees, as many as 90 percent of employees no longer have voicemail, JPMorgan Chase & Co. spokesman Michael Fusco said.
However, employees who work directly with customers still have and will continue to have voicemail.
Voicemail has been a ubiquitous part of the office since the 1990s, but is being slowly phased out as more employees choose to communicate by email and mobile phones. Keeping unused voicemail accounts open for employees can add up to a significant cost for large employers like JPMorgan, which has roughly 241,000 workers across all its businesses.
Getting rid of voicemail will save JPMorgan's consumer bank $3.2 million a year, Fusco said.
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