Headcount at six largest UK banks ticks up for first time since pandemic
The number of employees at the six largest UK banks increased slightly last year, the first increase since the pandemic.
According to statistics in the Banker’s Top 1,000 World Banks report, the six largest UK lenders – HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds, Standard Chartered, Natwest and Nationwide – increased their headcount by 0.6 per cent last year.
This was the biggest increase in a decade, during which time the number of bank staff in the UK has fallen 23 per cent to hit 591,435.
The increase in the UK was greater than the six largest lenders in Germany while the number of employees at the largest six banks in France and Italy both saw declines.
The US meanwhile saw a 4.85 per cent increase, taking headcount at the six largest US banks to 1.1m
Across the industry, cuts in 2023 have been the steepest since the financial crisis.
In many cases, firms took on new staff during the post-pandemic dealmaking frenzy. But after widespread geopolitical and macroeconomic volatility in 2022, demand for investment banking services declined significantly, forcing banks to cut back.
Joy Macknight, editor of the Banker, said: “The trend across Western Europe, for example, has been for quite a big decrease in terms of staffing levels over the past decade.”
She suggested that the UK banks are “regrouping” following big layoffs related to rationalisation, a deteriorating economy and digital transformation.
“I think the trend [of staff cuts] will continue even though the UK has maybe bucked the trend a little bit this year,” she said.
All of the ‘big six’ UK banks experienced declines in Tier 1 capital in 2022, with five of them dropping down the main Top 1,000 rankings as a result.
The fall in capital year on year was mainly a result of the weak performance of the pound against the dollar, the currency in which the Top 1,000 report is denominated.
Macknight said the decrease was likely nothing for the banks to worry about. “The banks are well capitalised. I think they’re ready for anything that could be coming down the line…non-performing loans haven’t increased significantly in the last year,” she said.