Strategy
HSBC Eyes Further Job Cuts - Report
The bank reportedly is pondering why it has so many people in Europe when higher growth rates are being logged in Asia.
HSBC is moving to cut as
many as 10,000 jobs, out of a total global payroll in June of
238,000, the Financial Times (of UK) reported yesterday.
The report was based on comments from two unnamed
sources.
The UK/Hong Kong-listed banking group did not comment, the
newspaper said.
The bank is asking why it has so many people in Europe when it
has double-digit returns in parts of Asia, one of the people told
the FT. The cuts, if made, would be added to the 4,700
redundancies announced earlier. The latest cuts could be unveiled
later this month when the bank, along with its peers, reports
third-quarter results. Like several other major groups, HSBC has
pivoted some of its focus on Asia. This is a natural move anyway
for a group that has its origins in Hong Kong.
The report noted that the last set of cuts were announced on the
day that John Flint left the bank as chief executive after 18
months in the post.
Last month, as noted in the report, HSBC said it was committed to
its plan to hire hundreds of more staff for its wealth management
business. There has been a trend of firms cutting investment
banking activities in recent years, which is seen as
capital-hungry, while wealth management is less of a
capital-intensive business and with a steadier revenue flow.
