Standard Chartered’s CEO Says Savings Needed For ‘Pricey Talent’
Standard Chartered’s CEO Says Savings Needed For ‘Pricey Talent’
(Bloomberg) -- Standard Chartered Plc Chief Executive Officer Bill Winters said the lender is chopping costs so it can afford to fund workers’ rising pay expectations.
Speaking in an interview with Bloomberg Television, Winters said the emerging markets-focused bank was having to “pay up,” though he’s hopeful that the jump in staff attrition over recent years has leveled off.
“We’ve found ways to save money in other areas so that our expenses were more or less flat,” said Winters. “I hope that we can continue with that trend, i.e. find the savings to pay for ever more pricey talent.”
The London-headquartered lender will report its full-year earnings next month. In its third-quarter results, the bank said expenses were up 5%, partly due to a rise in performance-related pay.
Winters said retaining top employees was a challenge. “We know that the Great Resignation is touching every industry, in every part of the world,” he said. “We are speculating endlessly on what’s driving this: is it lifestyle changes on the back of the pandemic? Is it the fact that the world is flush with cash?”
Seventh Anniversary
Winters will celebrate his seventh anniversary as Standard Chartered CEO in June. The bank’s shares are below the level when he joined in 2015, even with Winters leading a radical overhaul that’s involved cutting jobs and reducing risk.
Asked whether he was thinking about his future, Winters said there was “more we can deliver.” “The day you call me the forever CEO is probably the day I should head for the door,” he said.
“We’ve got a task to complete, it is not complete, and that’s reflected in our share price.”
In a separate interview with CNBC on Tuesday, Standard Chartered Chairman Jose Vinals said Winters was “absolutely” the right man for the job and had the full confidence of the board.
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