Deutsche Bank has been cutting junior staff in London, adding managing directors

Deutsche Bank has been hiring itself some managing directors (MDs) in the UK. It has also been trimming junior staff, particularly at analyst, associate and assistant vice president (AVP) level.

So say the newly released accounts of DB Group Services UK Ltd, a Deutsche Bank company that employs 6,705 people in the UK and that describes itself as "an employment entity for the Group in the United Kingdom."

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Last year, DB UK reduced headcount by 62 people. The cuts included 18 analysts, 16 associates, 35 AVPs and 20 vice presidents. However, Deutsche also added seven managing directors and 16 directors to the entity.

Following last year's hiring and firing, there are now 1.5 MDs to every analyst at Deutsche Bank in London. Combined managing directors and directors are roughly equivalent to the population of analysts and associates and AVPs. 

The situation is slightly better than 2023 when there were 1.54 MDs per analyst at Deutsche Bank in London, but not much.

Other banks don't break out their employee numbers by rank. In theory, though, hierarchies are supposed to be pyramidal. Deutsche's is more like a sausage.

The sausage has been causing complaints from some juniors at Deutsche Bank who suggest they are being overworked by multiple MDs. The new hierarchical model may become more common as the use of AI spreads. Banks like Lazard are planning to spend less on juniors whose work can be done by LLMs and more on MDs who can source deals.

As MDs and directors have grown, so has average pay per head. Last year, Deutsche Bank's London staff received an average salary of €259k and an average stock bonus of €24k. Three years previously they only got €227k and €18k respectively.  

Deutsche Bank runs large graduate and apprentice programmes, despite reducing its junior ranks. It declined to comment for this article.

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