HSBC sparks anger by restarting plans to axe 35,000 jobs

The lender will also maintain a freeze on almost all external recruitment

HSBC has angered staff by reviving plans to cut 35,000 jobs just months after it put the drastic overhaul on hold due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Union officials hit back after chief executive Noel Quinn sent a lengthy memo to the bank's 235,000 staff  at 6am on Wednesday saying "we could not pause the job losses indefinitely – it was always a question of 'not if, but when'". 

Dominic Hook, Unite's national officer, said the move was "extremely concerning" adding that "the question that must be asked today is 'why now HSBC?'" given the sacrifices staff are currently making to cope with the pandemic.  

The massive redundancy plan was announced in February as part of a $4.5bn (£3.5bn) cost-cutting drive and then postponed two months later due to the pandemic, with the bank saying it "would have been wrong" to let employees go then. 

However, as economic forecasts point to a challenging period ahead, Mr Quinn said the bank had resumed the programme and had asked senior executives to cut costs in the second half of the year. Profits in the first quarter fell 48pc from a year earlier. 

"I wish I could say that the next few months will see a return to normality, but that is unlikely to be the case," Mr Quinn said. "The reality is that the measures and the change we announced in February are even more necessary today." 

Staff have been told that they will be put into alternative roles where possible, although Mr Quinn said he did not "want to over-promise" as some will have to go. Unite said it planned to oppose any compulsory job losses. 

In February analysts predicted that 15,000 roles would go in Britain alone, many of them at the lender's Canary Wharf headquarters – nicknamed the "Tower of Doom" by some staff.

The move comes a month after HSBC rival Deutsche Bank, another of the City's largest employers, said it was ploughing ahead with its plans to axe 18,000 jobs despite the coronavirus pandemic. 

It also comes as HSBC is embroiled in a deepening political storm after backing an authoritarian crackdown in Hong Kong

The decision to support a new security law has drawn ire from politicians in the West, including foreign secretary Dominic Raab and US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Mr Raab said this week that the Government "will not sacrifice the people of Hong Kong over the altar of banker bonuses".

Earlier this month, one of HSBC's largest UK investors Aviva said it was "uneasy" that the bank and its rival Standard Chartered had decided to throw their weight behind the law.  

The lender was founded in Hong Kong in 1865 and makes almost all of its money in Asia. However a majority of its investors are based in the US and UK.

HSBC's London-listed shares gained 1pc to 387.5p. The stock was trading just below 600p in mid-February. 

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