The acquistion of Bear Stearns and thousands of it employees looks like shaping up to be a bit of a nightmare for JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon. Here Is The City is hearing that, as the credit crunch begins to impact business over at the new enlarged firm, both sets of staff are becoming increasingly vocal, claiming that they are being treated unfairly. And the situation is not helped by the differing ways staff view the Bear takeover - JPMorgan staff talk of it as a 'rescue', whilst many former Bear staff still see it as a 'steal'.

The integration of Bear into JPMorgan probably couldn't have been executed much better than it was. By common consent, Jamie Dimon and his crew bent over backwards to make Bear staff feel welcome, attempting to bring them on board with their dignity (or what was left of it) intact. Dimon increased his offer for Bear in order to try to appease that firm's shareholders, and instituted very good (even by industry standards) severance terms for those Bear staff who didn't make the cut. He even established a database of external open job positions in order to help displaced Bear staffers quickly get back in employment. But none of this, it seems, was enough. Many former Bear employees are struggling with the JPMorgan culture, still feel like victims and patently don't want to be part of the new organisation.

Dimon's problem now, so we are hearing, is that not only are former Bear employees disgruntled, but JPMorgan staff are becoming increasingly frustrated by the attitude of their Bear colleagues, and are increasingly resentful at what they have come to regard as the preferential treatment Bear staff have received. We heard last week from a former Bear professional who was angry because, despite being told that he and his team were the 'best of the best' when they signed their JPMorgan contracts a few weeks back, he has now been advised that his unit was vulnerable in the next round of job cuts that JPMorgan is currently planning.

And a long-time JPMorgan staffer told Here Is The City last week that his colleagues are becoming fed up with all the carping the former Bear guys are doing. 'We are so tired of hearing the whining from these guys. We will all be impacted by the next round of job cuts (in fact, it has been a constant bleed since we 'rescued' Bear). Frankly, lots of long-time JPMorgan staff have lost their jobs (and will continue to do so) since we came in for Bear. In this industry, you are only as good as your last deal (and more so in today's climate). You'll get no reward points for the difficulties you may have overcome in the past. It's hero to zero in short order, and former Bear staff need to quickly come to terms with this'. Another JPMorgan staffer said: 'The Bear staffers who came on board got decent jobs, and those that were let go received excellent severance terms, yet all they do is complain. Given the choice, I wouldn't want these guys at my firm'.

Dimon now needs to move quickly to nip all this in-fighting in the bud - before its starts to affect business. And both sets of staff need to realise that they are in this together, and must accept that JPMorgan executives cannot and will not play favourites in the job cutting stakes. As the firm pegs back its headcount in line with future revenue projections, it will be every staffer for his or herself, and only the strong (and best) will survive. And complaining employees need to watch out - it would be just like Jamie Dimon to fire all the moaners, irrespective of their backgrounds and how much money they bring in.

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