An internal review at The Bank of England has found ethnic minority staff are paid less than white colleagues and are also less likely to be promoted.
The near year-long review by the bank’s Court of Directors, led by Diana Noble, a non-executive director, revealed that while wages and pay rises were on a par, ethnic minority employees received “significantly” smaller bonuses, largely due to lower performance ratings.
The study also highlighted that candidates from ethnic backgrounds often failed to secure roles, and those that did found their white colleagues had greater opportunities for promotion, higher performance ratings and bigger bonuses on average.
Ethnic minority staff were more likely to leave the bank and were under-represented at senior levels, which was reflected in the bank failing to meet its own targets for 13% of ethnic minority representation in top management roles by the end of 2020. It also missed its 2020 targets for roles held by women in senior management roles, or those below.
As a result of the review, the bank has set itself more targets to increase diversity by the end of February 2028 as a first step towards making improvements. These include making a list of recommendations, such as ensuring executive directors are accountable for meeting diversity targets and linking this requirement to their pay.
Additionally, a goal for between 18% and 20% of senior managers to be black, Asian and minority ethnic (Bame) by 2028 has been set up, and for 23% of Bame representation in roles below senior management.
Bank of England governor Andrew Bailey pledged to implement the report’s recommendations in full and commented that the experience of staff with different ethnic backgrounds has not reflected the kind of institution he wants the bank to be.
“Making the bank a genuinely inclusive workplace is integral to getting the day job right. We need people to bring their different experiences to the table, and to represent fully the people of this country,” he said.