Exclusive – HSBC lays off at least 200 senior operations managers amid global cuts – Health & Fitness Journal sources

©Health & Fitness Journal. FILE PHOTO: A logo of HSBC is seen at its headquarters in the Financial Central District in Hong Kong, China, August 4, 2020. REUTERS/Tyrone Siu/File Photo

By Sumeet Chatterjee, Stefania Spezzati, and Lawrence White

HONG KONG/LONDON (Health & Fitness Journal) – HSBC is cutting up to 15% of its 2,000 senior operations managers worldwide as it seeks to streamline its management ranks and cut costs, two sources with knowledge of the matter said.

The global job cuts at the London-headquartered bank will span multiple divisions and geographic locations and result in the loss of at least 200 jobs, mostly with the chief operating officer (COO) title, the sources said.

HSBC, which used to position itself as the world’s local bank, employs many COOs because country and business units have their own separate COOs, the sources said.

HSBC declined to comment.

The lender has trimmed its sprawling global business for several years, downsizing in many regions and exiting some countries entirely to improve returns for shareholders.

The latest cuts are already underway, one of the sources said.

CEO Noel Quinn said Thursday that HSBC has identified an additional $1.7 billion in cost savings it will make over the next year as it struggles to meet its overall target of no more than 2% cost increases despite inflationary pressures reach.

New Treasury official Georges Elhedery was involved in the project to reduce the number of management staff, the sources said.

Codenamed Project Banyan, the initiative follows HSBC’s last major layoff plan of 2020, which saw up to 35,000 job cuts at all levels of staff worldwide.

Three separate sources confirmed job cuts as HSBC joins a chorus of other Western banks shedding staff as a gloomy global economic outlook weighs on corporate, consumer and investment bank earnings.

All sources declined to be named due to the sensitivity of the matter.

PING A PRINT

HSBC slightly increased its full-time workforce in 2022, third-quarter results showed, with headcount up 378 to 220,075 as of September 30 compared to December 31 of the previous year.

The UK-based bank, which derives the bulk of its revenue and profits from Asia, is under pressure from its largest shareholder, Chinese financial conglomerate Ping An, to explore options to boost returns, including listing its Asia operations.

Last month, Ping An Asset Management, a wholly-owned unit of Ping An Insurance, called on HSBC to aggressively cut costs through job cuts and divestitures of peripheral non-Asian businesses, the first such public call.

In addition to considering layoffs, the bank should also seek to cut costs at its global headquarters, Ping An AM had said at the time.

Health & Fitness Journal was the first to report in September that HSBC had begun a review of its property holdings that could include a move from its iconic skyscraper home in London’s financial district of Canary Wharf.

HSBC management plans to tell employees the latest round of job cuts is part of its broader strategy to rein in spending and improve earnings amid tougher market conditions, a source said.

On Wednesday, HSBC announced a potential sale of its New Zealand business and plans to close 114 stores in the UK.

And on Tuesday it said it had agreed to sell its much larger Canadian business to the Royal Bank of Canada, further reducing its global footprint following previous sales of its US and French retail banks over the past two years.