HSBC Holdings Plc has announced that it will slash around 3,000 jobs spread out over three years in Hong Kong.
HSBC, one of the biggest banking firms in Asia, announced the plan on Thursday, Set. 8, according to a Hong Kong Cable Television story quoting Peter Wong, the chief executive officer of the Asia Pacific region for HSBC.
The changes are the latest move by HSBC to streamline its operations and cut costs in the face of uncertain economic growth in much of Europe, HSBC’s largest market and where it is the biggest banking firm.
“I hope HSBC will minimize the impact of headcount reductions on Hong Kong,” BNP Paribas analyst Dominic Chan said on Sept. 8 based on a government transcript. “Wong told me that HSBC will add people in line with business growth in Asia-Pacific and mainland China.”
In May, HSBC CEO Stuart Gulliver, who was promoted in January, said that the bank hopes to cut costs of up to $3.5 billion by 2013. At the time, Gulliver said that he would not shrink the business but create more capacity.
HSBC is not alone in the market with the shadow of the European sovereign debt crises impacting other rival lenders in the global attempt to cut costs. Other international banks including UBS AG, Barclays Plc, and Royal Bank of Scotland Group Plc having confirmed job casualties of at least 80,000 this year, according to Bloomberg data.
In August, HSBC announced a staggering 30,000 global job cuts over the next few years, in conjunction with a plan to sell off 50 percent of its U.S. branches by 2013. The global banking giant has axed 5,000 jobs worldwide since August, despite a 35 percent increase in net profits last quarter.
“Since the start of 2011, we have begun operational restructurings in Latin America, the U.S., the UK, France, and the Middle East, which will reduce headcount by around 5,000,” said an earnings press release by the bank.
HSBC has 23,000 staff in Hong Kong. The London-based bank was established in Hong Kong and Shanghai in 1865 with a strong foothold in Asia. Its shares are listed on the London and Hong Kong stock exchanges.
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