JPMorgan Chase plans to lay off 63 employees based in Jersey City, New Jersey. The layoffs are expected to take effect on September 25, according to a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification filed on Tuesday. 

“This impacts a small number of local employees, and we are working hard to redeploy them,” JPMorgan said in a statement seen by Reuters.

As per the bank's statement to the wire service, JPMorgan currently has 560 open positions in New Jersey. The bank clarified that the layoffs were conducted as part of its routine review process.

“We are building for the long term and will continue to invest in recruiting, training and technology,” the bank said.

JPMorgan is showing signs of investment in the field of commercial banking, with a specific emphasis on serving the needs of startups and companies supported by venture capital.

JPMorgan has enlisted the expertise of John China, a seasoned professional with 27 years of experience at Silicon Valley Bank. He will be joining Melissa Smith, who currently leads JPMorgan's specialized industries division within the commercial bank, as co-leader of the bank's innovation economy business.

According to his LinkedIn profile, prior to joining JPMorgan, John China held the position of President at SVB Capital since 2019. He also served as the Head of Technology Banking at SVB before that.

“It’s a very rare thing to have this monopolistic player go away overnight,” Doug Petno, JPMorgan’s CEO of commercial banking, told the Financial Times, referring to SVB. “We are open for business and we believe we can be the end-game winner.”

In a statement released on Tuesday, JPMorgan revealed that it established its innovation economy group back in 2016. The group presently comprises over 350 bankers who cater to a clientele of 6,000, according to the bank.

“Recent market events have only strengthened our commitment to provide the bespoke services and solutions that founders, startups and investors need to thrive,” Smith said in another reference to the crisis of confidence that upended Silicon Valley Bank in March.

JPMorgan's commitment to supporting startups extends beyond the United States. The bank has expanded its commercial banking unit in the United Kingdom by hiring approximately 20 bankers. Additionally, it has incorporated 10 banks in Israel into its operations, as reported by the Financial Times.

“This is about being relevant to the world’s best companies earlier in their life cycle,” Petno told the outlet. “Our onboarding team are kind of maxed out.”

In May, JPMorgan informed around 1,000 employees of First Republic Bank that they would be subject to downsizing. JPMorgan had acquired the troubled lender following its takeover by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp.

According to a report by Reuters, JPMorgan had been exploring the possibility of laying off 500 employees across different departments in May. As per a filing, the bank's overall workforce as of March 31 was 296,877, marking an 8% increase from the first quarter of 2022.