Key phrases: Be ready: A return to normalcy remains to be a great distance off, warns financial institution billionaire Jamie Dimon

Jamie Dimon

Associated Press

For those of you who expect the world to return to a sense of normalcy by 2021, JPMorgan Chase JPM CEO Jamie Dimon has a message:

"
"We'll have to live with it."
”

The billionaire bank chief said in comments quoted by Bloomberg News this weekend at a conference on Friday that he did not expect a return to normal by the summer of 2021.

Dimon said it will be this long before there is a chance his bank's offices are full due to local regulations, the lack of a vaccine and the personal preferences of his staff. JPMorgan Chase is currently aiming for between 15% and 25% capacity, he said.

"We're starting to see some people take to the streets again," Dimon said, adding that he saw a need for the bank to get back to what it was doing earlier in the year. “I think it's quite safe. Some are scared. We will see."

Dimon has, as Bloomberg pointed out, pushed for cities to reopen to stimulate the economy, and has been in the office himself since June. He said he expected long-term economic and social damage should the shutdown persist for an extended period.

"Work-from-home needs to work for clients and clients, not just employees," said Dimon, who stated that up to 40% of his employees could work from home even after the pandemic.

As of today, the US reported the highest number of new daily cases since August on Friday, and former CDC director Tom Frieden told CNN on Saturday that an additional 20,000 COVID-19 deaths were "inevitable" by the end of the month.