HSBC to cut 3,500 UK jobs

13 April 2012

BANKING giant HSBC will cut about 3,500 UK jobs to reduce costs, including a further wave of moves to low-cost Asian countries, the company said this afternoon.

The cuts will mainly be at the bank's head office, in processing and regional management and will happen over two years, HSBC said. The bank will transfer the work of about 825 jobs to low-cost centres including India, it added.

The bank said the cuts included 800 branch administrative jobs but it would create 1,000 new posts to serve customers.

HSBC has announced about 9,000 British job cuts in less than a year, including 4,000 previously announced moving to Asian countries and 1,400 head office and regional cuts.

The latest reductions were ordered by Michael Geoghegan, who took over as head of the UK bank in January after running HSBC's Brazil business.

HSBC's UK bank employs about 41,000 people. The cuts include shutting three transaction processing centres in 2006 Leeds, Avon and Frimley in Surrey with the loss of a total 525 jobs that will all go to Asia.

'The redeployment and removal of some roles will simplify our management structure and strip away costs that are no longer sustainable for financial retailers today,' Geoghegan said in a statement.

The UK bank provides 25 percent of the bank's annual profit but 33 percent of its costs, HSBC said.

Rob O'Neill, national secretary of finance trade union Unifi, said: 'These latest plans to cut jobs are coming from the top down in order to slash costs and are certainly not a measured look at the business needs and the staff required to deliver a good service to customers.' The union said HSBC workers might strike in protest.

Financial services companies, attracted by the huge labour cost advantage, have been moving work to India, China and other Asian countries. General Electric and Citigroup have shifted work there, as have Lloyds TSB and Abbey National banks.

Rival UK bank Alliance & Leicester said on Wednesday it would cut 310 jobs and shut 46 of its 300 branches.

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