High Vacancies and Low Morale: Culture Challenges at the UK’s FCA

Among its global peers, the UK Financial Conduct Authority (FCA) has been at the fore in asserting the importance of firm culture. Seen as shaping outcomes for the 50,000 firms it oversees — and for their stakeholders — the FCA in recent years elevated firm culture as a matter that warrants supervisory attention. In this regard, employee sentiment has been of particular interest.

Now, the FCA finds itself subject to a similar inquiry. In December last year, FN London reported that a ‘morale crisis’ triggered by a ’toxic culture’ threatened to overwhelm the regulator, alarming some UK lawmakers. Now, internal documents obtained by the Financial Times indicate that the FCA is faced with high vacancy rates and low staff morale. The documents show that 14% of the regulator's 4,200 roles are vacant, and only 30% of employees rate it as a "great place to work.”