HSBC to resumes 35,000 job cut plan after COVID-19 crisis

HSBC will be resuming its plan to cut 35,000 jobs after it had been put on pause during the COVID-19 outbreak as the largest bank in Europe faces declining profits.

HSBC will also put a halt on all external hiring, according to a memo Chief Executive Noel Quinn wrote on Wednesday to the bank’s 235,000 staff worldwide.

The job cuts in March were part of a wider restructuring program to cut $4.5 billion in costs and were postponed as HSBC saw it wrong to remove staff during a worldwide crisis.

However, Quinn said that the job cuts will have to be resumed as profits fall amid a gloomy economic outlook.  

The bulk of the job cuts are likely to be from the back office at Global Banking and Markets (GBM), which houses HSBC’s investment banking and trading, according to a senior executive familiar with the plans.

He added that the cuts will also affect senior bankers in Britain who work in GBM and HSBC’s head office, as well as support staff in its businesses around the world.