HUMAN CAPITAL ADVISOR BRIEFING · ISSUE 3 · MARCH 2026
A monthly briefing for consultants and transformation advisers on what's happening in your clients' sectors, plus the Human Capital Intelligence to take into the room. Built on Deltabase data covering 5,500+ companies and 11M employee reviews.
Editor's note
Banking pay was in the spotlight in March. Wall Street's bonus pool hit a record, HSBC was reported to be weighing up to 20,000 job cuts as it invests in AI, and UK regular pay growth slowed to its weakest in more than five years. For advisers to banks, the contrast between record rewards and large-scale restructuring is the story. Our data shows how employees at ten of the world's largest banks rate their pay.
Phil Spratt, CEO & Co-Founder, Deltabase
The month in three
1. Wall Street bonuses reach a record
What happened: New York State Comptroller Tom DiNapoli estimated on 26 March that Wall Street's 2025 bonus pool rose 9% to a record US$49.2bn, with the average bonus up 6% to $246,900, while securities industry employment dipped slightly to 198,200.
The Deltabase lens: Pay & Rewards is a strength at most US banks, but not all. In 2025, Wells Fargo scored +47.5% and JPMorgan Chase +41.6%, while Goldman Sachs fell from +23.9% to +18.0%, the lowest of the five US banks we track.
Client angle: High pay does not guarantee positive pay sentiment. That gap is a useful opening for reward and retention work.
2. HSBC weighs up to 20,000 job cuts
What happened: HSBC is considering cuts that could ultimately affect around 20,000 roles, about 10% of its workforce, over the coming years as it invests in AI, according to a Bloomberg News report published on 19 March. Non-client-facing roles in global service centres are expected to be hit hardest.
The Deltabase lens: HSBC's NSS improved from −3.6% to −2.6% in 2025 (3,525 and 2,586 reviews), but Career Progression fell from −53.8% to −59.8%. Agility & Bureaucracy improved from −86.1% to −77.4%, though it remains deeply negative.
Client angle: Advisers on AI-led operating-model change should expect career concerns to surface early. Starting from −59.8% on Career Progression, retaining critical skills needs to be built into the plan.
3. UK pay growth at a five-year low
What happened: ONS data on 19 March showed regular pay growth slowing to 3.8% for November 2025 to January 2026, the lowest in over five years, with private sector growth of 3.3% and unemployment steady at 5.2%.
The Deltabase lens: Pay sentiment diverged across UK banks in 2025. Lloyds rose from +44.0% to +55.4%, the highest of the ten banks we track, while NatWest fell from −6.8% to −11.1%, the only negative score, and Standard Chartered dropped from +19.0% to +9.6%.
Client angle: With the labour market cooling, reward strategy will be judged on relative position. Outside-in benchmarks let advisers show a client exactly where it stands.
Stat of the month
+30.3%: the median Pay & Rewards score across ten Top 100 banks in 2025, down from +33.6% in 2024, in a record year for bonuses.
| Bank | 2024 | 2025 | Change |
|---|
| Lloyds Banking Group | +44.0% | +55.4% | +11.5 pts |
| Wells Fargo | +44.6% | +47.5% | +3.0 pts |
| JPMorgan Chase | +39.8% | +41.6% | +1.8 pts |
| Goldman Sachs | +23.9% | +18.0% | −5.9 pts |
| Standard Chartered | +19.0% | +9.6% | −9.4 pts |
| NatWest Group | −6.8% | −11.1% | −4.3 pts |
Source: Deltabase Culture data, Employee Net Sentiment Score (−100% to +100%), Pay & Rewards topic, 2024 and 2025. Median across JPMorgan Chase, Bank of America, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs, Wells Fargo, HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group, NatWest Group and Standard Chartered.
Spotlight: JPMorgan Chase vs Goldman Sachs
On overall culture, JPMorgan Chase held steady at +4.8% in 2025 (5,129 reviews), while Goldman Sachs stayed at −10.3% (1,912 reviews). The topic scores explain why. Goldman leads on Learning & Development, at +76.9% against +61.1%, but trails on Pay & Rewards (+18.0% against +41.6%) and especially Work-Life Balance (−65.8% against −9.3%). For advisers working with either bank, development is a selling point, but workload and reward perception are where the culture gap opens.
For your client work
- In reward reviews, compare a bank's Pay & Rewards sentiment with peers, not just its pay data.
- On AI-led restructures, put Career Progression and Agility & Bureaucracy on the agenda from the first workshop.
- Use the sector median (+30.3% on Pay & Rewards in 2025) to frame where a client leads or lags.
Walk into every pitch with the people data already in hand. Advisers use Deltabase to benchmark culture, talent and workforce trends for any client or target in minutes. See how it works →
Sources: Profit/Pakistan Today, citing Bloomberg News (19 March 2026); FE News (19 March 2026); BNN Bloomberg/Reuters (26 March 2026); Deltabase Culture data.