9 Jun 2015

HSBC planning to cut 8000 jobs in the UK

HSBC is cutting a reported 8,000 in the UK as part of an overhaul to slash costs and reshape the business.

The bank said it was planning a reduction of around 10 per cent of its full-time workforce. It is thought 8,000 jobs could be impacted in the UK, where HSBC has around 48,000 employees.

HSBC to quit London? The key questions

The group also announced aims to sell its businesses in Turkey and Brazil, which will see its workforce reduce by around another 25,000.

It comes as the bank seeks to deliver annual cost savings of around $4.5bn (£2.9bn) to $5bn (£3.3bn) by the end of 2017.

HSBC also confirmed it would finish its review of where to base its headquarters by the end of the year, after announcing recently that it was considering a move away from the UK due to regulatory and structural reforms.

HSBC said it was undertaking a “significant” reshaping of the business. The announcement came ahead of an investor presentation on HSBC’s strategy by chief executive Stuart Gulliver.

He said the actions being taken would “transform our organisation”. He added: “We recognise that the world has changed and we need to change with it.”

UK headquarters

The head office of HSBC's UK retail bank is being relocated from London to Birmingham by 2019 amid the new ring-fencing rules and HSBC is said to be considering a sale of the business.
The HSBC strategy update comes a day ahead of George Osborne's Mansion House speech, with reports suggesting the chancellor will signal a review of the bank levy in an attempt to prevent major banking players such as HSBC from relocating their headquarters away from Britain.

The update comes as HSBC is also in the spotlight after last week being hit with a £28m fine to settle an investigation by prosecutors in Geneva into alleged aggravated money laundering.

Authorities raided the premises of the group’s controversial Swiss private bank in February, following allegations that it helped to hide millions of dollars for arms dealers while helping others avoid taxes.

The investigation came about after an ex-employee leaked a list of thousands of suspected tax evaders to French authorities in 2008.

Dominic Hook, Unite national office for finance, said: “Unite are seeking to meet with UK chief executive Antonio Simoes as soon as possible to demand that any redundancies are through voluntary means or managed through natural attrition.

“After all the scandals of recent years, frontline staff have suffered time and time again as they are forced to pay for the mistakes of others with their jobs, their terms and conditions and their reputation.”

Topics

,