© Reuters. FILE PHOTO: The Barclays brand is seen in entrance of displayed inventory graph on this illustration taken June 21, 2017. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Picture
By Stefania Spezzati, Lawrence White and Iain Withers
LONDON (Reuters) -Barclays has promoted 85 folks to managing director (MD) in its funding financial institution, it mentioned on Thursday, with by far the vast majority of the coveted titles this yr being taken by males.
Banks have come beneath stress for a poor observe report on gender equality, notably of their senior ranks, and Britain’s finance sector has one of many largest gender pay gaps.
Based mostly on skilled social media accounts on-line reviewed by Reuters, round 85% of the employees promoted in its funding financial institution on this yr’s record are male.
“We’re dedicated to a long run plan that features creating a powerful feminine MD pipeline by means of accelerated improvement programmes and guaranteeing there may be senior chief accountability for making significant progress towards our gender ambitions,” a spokesperson for the financial institution mentioned.
Barclays (LON:) didn’t give steering on what number of of these promoted have been ladies, which has been a supply of criticism in previous years. Nor did it give a breakdown of which a part of the funding financial institution these promoted labored in, because it had in earlier years.
With ladies making up round simply 15% of the promotions, the figures present Barclays taking a backward step on this.
In 2018, when Barclays broke out the gender breakdown of its promotions, 27% have been ladies, up from 23% the yr earlier than.
In the meantime, Barclays Financial institution PLC, which homes the lender’s funding financial institution, had a imply common pay hole of 43% in favour of males in 2021, the financial institution’s pay hole report states.
Barclays has mentioned it goals for 33% of managing administrators and administrators to be feminine by 2025. The determine stood at 28% globally as of the top of final yr, in response to the financial institution’s 2021 variety and inclusion report.
The promotions come a day after Barclays introduced a senior administration reshuffle, selling the top of its client banking enterprise Alistair Currie to chief working officer.
Barclays’ funding financial institution has been a supply of competition in recent times, after earlier CEO Jes Staley fended off an activist investor who wished the unit shrunk.
Current performances have tended to vindicate the funding financial institution, as within the third quarter this yr, when a set earnings buying and selling increase helped it beat market estimates.
