HUMAN CAPITAL PULSE: BANKING · ISSUE 7 · JULY 2026
A monthly Human Capital benchmark for HR and People leaders in Banking: the sector's talking points and how culture, workforce and talent compare across your peers, built on Deltabase data covering 5,500+ companies and 11M employee reviews.
Editor's note
July's half-year season put headcount in the spotlight. The biggest US banks cut more than 10,000 roles in the second quarter, the Chancellor launched a Financial Services Skills Compact, and Lloyds set out a further £2 billion of savings while declining to set staff targets. For our H1 review, Deltabase Employee Turnover data shows leaver rates fell at all ten Banking peers in the first half, a steadier base for workforce planning.
Leroy Hall, Deltabase
The month in three
1. US banks cut 10,000+ roles in a record quarter
What happened: Bank of America, Wells Fargo, Citigroup, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanley together reduced headcount by more than 10,000 in the second quarter, the biggest quarterly decrease in data going back to early 2020, Bloomberg Law reported on 16 July. JPMorgan Chase was the only one of the biggest banks whose employee count rose.
The Deltabase lens: Deltabase Workforce data shows where the roles sit: Tech accounts for 16.3% of JPMorgan's workforce and 16.1% at Wells Fargo, while General Admin is 15.0% at JPMorgan against 9.2% at Wells Fargo.
So what: Cuts tend to fall first on administrative and operational layers; knowing your own function mix shows where exposure sits before a cost plan arrives.
2. A Skills Compact for financial services
What happened: Twenty-two firms employing more than 250,000 people signed the Financial Services Skills Compact, announced by the Chancellor at Mansion House on 14 July, HR Grapevine reported. Signatories include high street and digital banks, and commit to investing in their own people and talent pipelines.
The Deltabase lens: Deltabase Talent data shows how uneven AI skills are across Banking: 8.3% of Goldman Sachs' workforce lists AI skills, 7.0% at HSBC and 3.9% at Standard Chartered, against 2.3% at NatWest Group.
So what: A compact turns skills into a reportable commitment; HR teams will need a baseline of today's capabilities to show progress against it.
3. Lloyds targets £2 billion more savings, but no staff number
What happened: Lloyds Banking Group reported first-half pre-tax profit of £4.3 billion, up 23%, and targeted a further £2 billion of savings by 2030 under a new plan from 2027, PA reported on 30 July. Chief executive Charlie Nunn said the bank does "not put targets around numbers of staff", adding that the shift will require reskilling and hiring.
The Deltabase lens: Lloyds' Learning & Development NSS rose 15.4 pts to +49.1% in 2025, although Career Progression remains at −47.2%. Deltabase Employee Turnover data shows departures in January to June 2026 equal to 3.6% of December headcount, down from 5.0% a year earlier.
So what: Rising L&D sentiment gives Lloyds a foundation for reskilling; the career-progression gap will decide whether reskilled people stay.
Stat of the month
10 of 10: Banking peers recorded a lower first-half leaver rate in 2026 than in 2025.
| Company | H1 2026 leaver rate | H1 2025 leaver rate | NSS 2025 |
|---|
| Goldman Sachs | 9.8% | 11.2% | −10.3% |
| Wells Fargo | 4.9% | 5.6% | +3.8% |
| Citigroup | 4.1% | 4.5% | −3.2% |
| JPMorgan Chase | 4.1% | 5.3% | +4.8% |
| HSBC | 3.6% | 4.8% | −2.6% |
| Standard Chartered | 3.1% | 4.1% | −3.3% |
Source: Deltabase Employee Turnover data, departures January to June as a share of the previous December's headcount, 2025 and 2026; Deltabase Culture data, Employee Net Sentiment Score (−100% to +100%), 2025. Rates also fell at Bank of America, Barclays, Lloyds Banking Group and NatWest Group.
Spotlight: HSBC vs Standard Chartered
Two Asia-focused, London-listed banks, both improving. HSBC's NSS rose 1.0 pts to −2.6% in 2025 and Standard Chartered's 2.1 pts to −3.3%. Standard Chartered leads on D&I (+46.7%, up 32.6 pts) and edges Collaborative (+47.8% vs +46.0%), while HSBC is ahead on Career Progression (−59.8% vs −66.4%). On talent, Deltabase Talent data shows Compliance skills among 10.5% of Standard Chartered's workforce and 9.3% at HSBC. Deltabase Employee Turnover data puts Standard Chartered's H1 leaver rate at 3.1% against HSBC's 3.6%, with median tenure of 6.8 years against 5.4.
For your People team
- Recalculate your H1 leaver rate on the same basis as your peers, then split it by function and tenure.
- Set a skills baseline for AI, data and change now if you plan to sign up to, or report against, the Skills Compact.
- Pair every reskilling promise with a visible career route; L&D sentiment without progression rarely holds.
See how your Human Capital compares with your Banking peers. Book a 30-minute benchmark walkthrough across culture, workforce and talent. Book a walkthrough →
Sources: Bloomberg Law (16 July 2026); HR Grapevine (13 July 2026); PA via The Irish News (30 July 2026); Deltabase Culture data; Deltabase Workforce data; Deltabase Talent data; Deltabase Employee Turnover data.