One of the largest banking and financial services organisations in the world, Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) has decided to cut 35,000 jobs worldwide over the next three years as it restructures its operations and streamlines it to Asia.
Why it matters: The bank said the action would be taken because it needed to reduce costs and build a simpler, more efficient and empowered organization.
HSBC’s Chief Executive, Noel Quinn, explained that the total workforce, which would fall from 235,000 to about 200,000, has to reduce to make the company bounce back from the underperformance witnessed in 2019.
The bank had reported a 33% fall on its annual profit last year, to 13.3 billion dollars, as revenue rose by 4% and costs were up to 22%.
“The group’s 2019 performance was resilient, however, parts of our business are not delivering acceptable returns, We are taking decisive action today in order to address those under-performing parts of the business, to redistribute capital to growth opportunities, to simplify our business – and in so doing reduce the cost base of HSBC,” Quinn said.
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More plans unveiled: The HSBC Finance Chief, Ewen Stevenson made known that the bank planned to focus its British-based investment banking business on supporting the UK mid-market clients and international corporate clients through its London hub, while also reducing other services and shifting some to Asia.
He said HSBC would also be reducing its employers in the United States by 30% in a bid to streamline functions to simplify its U.S. business and lower costs.
What you should know: HSBC had laid off no less than a total of 14,700 workers last year between August and October. Nairametrics had reported that the members of staff at the receiving end of this job loss, were high-paid roles, which reduced the global workforce by 4% as the bank was struggling with falling interest rates, Brexit and global tariff wars.
