British banks shed workers at fastest pace since 2018
British bankers were on the chopping block in 2024 as UK lenders marked the steepest drop in headcount since 2018 amid an industry-wide digital push.
Total employee numbers at British lenders slumped 5.25 per cent to 580,371, falling to the lowest number in a decade.
Standard Chartered and HSBC made the biggest culls at 4.5 per cent and 4.3 per cent.
HSBC’s chief Georges Elhedery has moved swiftly to slash costs across operations, which has included a drastic reduction in investment bankers. The lender has a global headcount of 211,304 as of December 2024 and 34,700 in the UK alone.
Morning Wire revealed earlier this month that Lloyds had placed thousands of jobs under review as part of a ploy to beef up its engineering teams and modernise its digital banking offer.
William Howlett, financials analyst at Quilter Cheviot, told Morning Wire the cost-cutting cycle across lenders reflected competitive conditions brought on by the rise of challenger banks, which possess stronger tech and often no branch overhead.
“As a counterweight to cost cuts, banks continue to invest in tech and AI with the aim of streamlining and modernising technology through enhanced code development, improving and personalising customer experiences, improving risk management and fraud detection,” he said.
British banks snubbed on world ranking
The decline in employee numbers came as British banks were left out of the top ten of a global ranking tracking the financial strength of world’s banks for a second year running, according to research by The Banker.
Not a single UK lender made it in the top ten of The Banker’s Top 1000 World Banks, which assess firms on their Tier 1 Capital – a core funding that indicates the financial health of a bank.
Tier 1 capital is viewed as a reliable and stable form of bank capital, mainly including common stock and retained earnings, and often serves as a cushion to absorb losses and protect depositors during periods of financial stress.
Of the UK banks, HSBC topped the list at $144bn, though remained broadly unchanged year-on-year. Barclays and Lloyds came in second and third $75bn and $47bn.
The overall number of banks on the global ranking has reduced to 22 from 26, after a fleet of takeovers in the last year including Nationwide snapping up Virgin Money and Barclays acquisition of Tesco Bank.
Despite being Europe’s biggest lender, HSBC narrowly missed out on a top spot, sitting at 11th place.
The top ten was dominated by the US and China, with the latter taking the top four spots as China-based KBC secured first place.
The findings come as firms honed in on tech developments and shuttered their branch network to cut costs.
In the UK, branch closures continue to contribute to a fall in headcount, with over 370 closures are pencilled in for the coming year, with Halifax and Santander leading the pack at 99 and 95, according to data from Which?