JPMorgan Chase has announced $20 billion in new spending directed at employee pay raises, as well as the hiring new employees. The company announced the investment was a direct result of the tax legislation passed last month by the GOP-led Congress, as well as the deregulation the Trump administration has instituted over the first year in office.
The move, the bank said, was made possible by a “more constructive regulatory and business environment.”
JPMorgan Chase, America’s largest bank, plans to open 400 branches in new markets and to hire 4,000 employees in the U.S., as part of a five-year investment plan. The company also said that it will be giving pay raises to tellers, customer service representatives and other frontline workers. Pay for roughly 22,000 employees will increase to between $15 and $18 an hour, and will average about 10% per employee. The bank said it will also be increasing its community-based philanthropic investments by 40% to $1.75 billion in that time.
CEO Jamie Dimon has been one of the more vocal proponents of the tax package. Earlier this month he called a “significant positive outcome for the country… [that will] …ultimately benefit all Americans.”
Under the new tax law, the corporate tax rate decreased from 35% to 21%. Banks generally pay high taxes and so they’re widely regarded as among the biggest beneficiaries of the new law.