HUMAN CAPITAL PULSE: BANKING · ISSUE 10 · OCTOBER 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.
October put Human Capital in front of boards and investors. Barclays said it will cut about 5,000 roles this year as technology makes work more efficient, NatWest removed 1,000 roles in the quarter while adding around 2,200 through Evelyn Partners, and regulators proposed scrapping the Certification Regime for around 139,000 people. The workforce story now sits in results statements, so HR teams need numbers that are ready for the boardroom.
Leroy Hall, Deltabase
What happened: Barclays expects to have cut about 5,000 roles by the end of 2026, around 5% of employees, mostly in operational and functional roles, Yahoo Finance UK reported on 22 October. Chief executive CS Venkatakrishnan said the cuts are "a result of the investments which we've made into technology over a number of years and which we continue to make".
The Deltabase lens: Deltabase Workforce data shows 14.0% of Barclays' workforce in General Admin and 4.6% in Operations. Deltabase Talent data finds Software Development skills among 9.2% of its people and Testing skills among 6.6%.
So what: When technology investment is the stated driver, boards will ask which capabilities grow as others shrink; a skills view answers that better than a headcount figure.
What happened: NatWest Group cut about 1,000 full-time roles in the third quarter, bringing the total for the year to 1,400, while the acquisition of Evelyn Partners added around 2,200 staff, ITV News reported on 30 October. The bank has delivered around £420 million of cost savings.
The Deltabase lens: NatWest's Purpose NSS fell 38.6 pts to −63.6% in 2025. Deltabase Workforce data shows 5.6% of its workforce in Investment Services, the part of the bank that the Evelyn deal enlarges.
So what: Integrating a wealth manager while cutting elsewhere tests a culture where Purpose sentiment has already weakened; integration plans need a culture baseline for both workforces.
What happened: The FCA and PRA proposed removing the Certification Regime for around 139,000 people below senior manager level, saving firms about £2 billion over ten years, Mondo Visione reported on 22 October. Regulator pre-approval would end for some roles and conduct rule training would be streamlined; the consultation closes in January.
The Deltabase lens: Fewer certification checks put more weight on the leadership culture behind conduct. Supportive Leadership NSS in 2025 was −7.5% at NatWest Group, −18.6% at HSBC and −28.6% at Citigroup.
So what: As regulatory checks lighten, employee sentiment on leadership becomes one of the few independent signals of conduct risk a board can see.
5.4%: share of Barclays' workforce in Governance, Risk & Compliance, the highest of six Banking peers on a three-pillar board scorecard.
| Company | NSS 2025 | GRC share of workforce | Share with Compliance skills |
|---|---|---|---|
| Barclays | +2.2% | 5.4% | 7.4% |
| NatWest Group | +0.4% | 4.9% | 6.2% |
| HSBC | −2.6% | 4.8% | 9.3% |
| Lloyds Banking Group | 0.0% | 4.8% | 6.2% |
| JPMorgan Chase | +4.8% | 3.7% | 6.0% |
| Wells Fargo | +3.8% | 2.8% | 10.7% |
Source: Deltabase Culture data, Employee Net Sentiment Score (−100% to +100%), 2025; Deltabase Workforce data, Governance, Risk & Compliance function as a share of total workforce; Deltabase Talent data, share of workforce holding Compliance skills. Companies: Barclays, NatWest Group, HSBC, Lloyds Banking Group, JPMorgan Chase, Wells Fargo.
A board scorecard across the pillars. Culture: Goldman's NSS was −10.3% in 2025, flat on 2024, while Citigroup improved 2.6 pts to −3.2%. Goldman leads on Learning & Development (+76.9% vs +45.7%) but trails on Work-Life Balance (−65.8% vs −4.3%). Talent: Deltabase Talent data shows Python skills among 16.2% of Goldman's workforce against 7.4% at Citi, and Machine Learning 6.6% against 2.7%, while Citi leads on Compliance (11.9% vs 7.5%). Turnover: median tenure is 3.4 years at Goldman and 5.6 at Citi, with 147 and 205 senior hires respectively in January to August 2026.
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Sources: Yahoo Finance UK (22 October 2026); ITV News (30 October 2026); Mondo Visione (22 October 2026); Deltabase Culture data; Deltabase Workforce data; Deltabase Talent data; Deltabase Employee Turnover data.