JPMorgan Commits $250-Million to Skills-Building Effort

JPMorgan Chase has pledged $50-million annually for five years to a new program focused on plugging skills gaps in major U.S. and European job markets, reports The New York Times.

The “New Skills at Work” program, announced Thursday by the Wall Street firm and Chicago Mayor Rahm Emanuel, will begin disbursing grants next year for research and training programs designed to arm workers with in-demand skills and pair them with employers struggling to meet specific needs. The effort grew out of a Chicago-based program launched in 2011 and will target other big cities, including Los Angeles, New York, and London.

The program is part of a JPMorgan push to focus its giving on areas that have more to do with its own businesses. CEO Jamie Dimon dismissed a connection between the philanthropic effort and the bank’s recent regulatory troubles, which include a $13-billion settlement over its mortgage practices in the run-up to the financial crisis. “JPMorgan Chase, for 100 years, for 200 years, has always tried to be a great community citizen,” he said.