Employee experience The war on


n a male-dominated industry struck by a pandemic – facing labour cuts and uncertain working conditions – how do you hold onto your biggest minority: female workers? It is a difficult question, particularly for the finance sector, an industry that often does not seem to hold many answers. Last year, after all, around 10,000 women left their jobs at UK banks – probably not something any major institution is keen to boast about on their diversity and inclusion pages. Nor are the comparative statistics much better. The number of women at the UK’s five biggest lenders shrank by 3% over 2020, while men


For years, banks have been eager to fl ex their gender equality muscles. On the ground, however, the situation is far less rosy. Nikki Peach talks to Kathy Powers-Moore, diversity and inclusion manager at Rabobank, and Jayne-Anne Gadhia, founder and chair of fi ntech company Snoop and former CEO at Virgin Money, to understand the scale of gender disparity in the sector.


female talent I


saw a decline of just 2.1%. While Covid-related cuts are not exclusive to financial services, or indeed to female employees, it is a trend we should pay attention to – and one that leaves a sour taste in the mouths of those striving towards diversity and inclusion. Of course, banks across the country make pledges and promises to improve diversity and inclusion with ‘speak up’ schemes, unconscious bias training and female colleague-led International Women’s Day celebrations. But is this translating into tangible change – and to what extent can women themselves take the lead towards better working conditions?


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