Lloyds Makes Slow Progress on Path to Employing More Black Staff

(Bloomberg) -- Lloyds Banking Group Plc recorded a slight rise in the number of Black people it employs but said there’s plenty still to do to hit its representation targets within four years.

The U.K. lender said 0.7% of its senior managers are Black, up from 0.6% in the prior year and well below the 3% target the bank has set for 2025, according to figures published Friday that cover the year to April.

The proportion of Black, Asian and minority ethnic employees throughout Lloyds rose by half a percentage point to 10.8%, still below the 12% figure for the U.K. workforce as a whole. However, the figures may be higher as around one in six workers haven’t shared their ethnicity: based solely on the staff that have disclosed, 12.8% are Black, Asian and minority ethnic, according to the bank.

Lloyds said its ethnicity pay gap narrowed from 6.8% to 5.3% but the pace of change was not fast enough. “There remains much more to do,” the bank said in a statement.

“This has no quick fixes, but with long-term commitment and continued focus, we believe that we will take further steps to become a truly inclusive organization,” said the bank.

Lloyds is not the only U.K. bank attempting to raise the number of non-White staff in senior positions. NatWest Group Plc, which has about 1% Black senior managers, has set its own 3% target for these roles by 2025. 

HSBC Holdings Plc has pledged to double the number of Black staff in senior roles over the same period, up from the 0.9% figure it disclosed for last year. Based on U.K. staff who have disclosed their race, 2.5% of workers at all levels of seniority are Black, 12.6% are Asian, while 3% are mixed race and other ethnicities.

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