JPMorgan VP with sick parents resigns as sabbatical impossible

efinancialcareers.com:

People in banking take sabbaticals. Just ask Georges Elhedery orStuart Lea at HSBC, or Sanj Sivarajah the former head of JPMorgan's head of emerging markets special situations group, each of whom took time out for various reasons in recent years. 

When Nikolaus Heidelberg, a vice president (VP) in equity sales at JPMorgan in Frankfurt tried to take a sabbatical, however, it seems to have been refused. This was despite some very difficult family circumstances. 

In a post on social media, Heidelberg says he was compelled to leave his «dream employer» after 13 years because he wanted to care for his parents. Heidelberg says his mother has MS and his father has throat cancer and that «taking a sabbatical wasn't possible.»

It's not clear why Heidelberg wasn't able to take time out to care for his parents while remaining an employee of JPMorgan. The bank declined to comment on the issue and Heidelberg didn't respond to our attempt to get in touch. Sivarajah, however, was able to take a six-month sabbatical from the bank to go on a motorbike trek in 2022. He'd previously generated $100m a year in P&L and upon returning left JPMorgan forhedge fund Verition. 

Heidelberg joined JPMorgan from Hypovereinsbank in 2010 and started as an intern in London. He said his career at the bank had been a «blast», «was always more a hobby than a job,» and that he was incredibly sad to go. «I always tried to go the extra mile for my clients, hopefully it was appreciated, we will meet again.»  

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