Fewest female City staff since 1990s

THE number of women working in the City has fallen by a third – nearly 200,000 – since 1997 as administrative roles such as secretaries disappear from the Square Mile.

A report by the London Stock Exchange and the Centre for Economics & Business Research (CEBR) pointed to “the sharp decline in clerical and administrative roles as the structural digitalisation of the UK finance sector and economy gathered pace”.

However, women were hit harder than men by the rise of computers.

Over the same period, the number of men working in the City declined by just 7pc to 467,000.

Julia Hoggett, chief executive of the London Stock Exchange, said the findings “reaffirms the uncomfortable truths – the inflexibilities, inequities and resistance to change that our industry is yet to fully address”.

“Change has come, but so much more is required.”

While the number of women working in the City has fallen, their wages have grown at a much faster rate than men, more than tripling since 1997, from £16,000 to more than £50,000 in 2022.

The average man’s earnings just over doubled from £33,500 to more than £80,000.