The JPMorgan Chase CEO discussed the country’s education system during an interview at The Atlantic Festival 2024 this month.
Dimon said that high schools and community colleges could do more to prepare young folks for adulthood. He described graduates leaving school to stock shelves, which he said isn’t a bad thing, instead of “making $60,000 a year as a coder or planner or finance person or program management.”
“We don’t educate them about livelihood,” Dimon said. “We worry about whether they can do math in eighth grade — which I think is good — but I think we should change the purpose of education. You leave learning about life, and you have a livelihood.”
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Dimon, who raised three daughters, said high schools should offer classes focused on nutrition and wellness. He also said there should be classes about financial education, including how to save money.
Dimon is part of the New York Jobs CEO Council, which works to address income and opportunity gaps.
Dimon has spoken about the importance of education in the past, including in June when he told Axios that schools aren’t giving students proper training for entering the workforce.
“Businesses have to hire a lot of people and they have to train them, so when the school system doesn’t do it, it makes this harder for companies,” he told the outlet.
He added: “What you need in a lot of these things is, certificates and training that get them the good job.”
