HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) (LON:HSBA) has once again geared up to cut five thousand more jobs in a fresh round of grand downsizing as the company outlines its next stage of turnaround strategy aimed at saving $1bn (£660m) in 2013.
Britain’s and Europe’s biggest bank by market value had set a target to save $2.5-$3.5 billion by 2013, which is already obtained with the bank announcing -$3.6 billion of “sustainable annual savings” at the end of 2012.
“There is no fantastical new strategy out there,” said one person familiar with the bank’s planning. “But there’s still huge potential to be more efficient.”
The possible job cuts are expected to anywhere between 5,000 to 10,000 as part of the bank’s strategic restructuring plan to be spelled out in the coming months.
HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) (LON:HSBA) declined to comment on the report.
Sources close to the bank suggested if the bank maintained the rate of staff cuts to cost savings, the number of job cuts would come closer to 10,000.
The frequency of job cuts, according to some people involved in the planning of the investor day, could grow further and become more dramatic if Mr. Stuart Gulliver, HSBC’s chief executive, continues planning to uproot HSBC’s tradition of in-house software development.
However, as HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) (LON:HSBA) pushes aggressively into new technology areas, new jobs are likely to be created in the company.
The bank is expected to shut down or sell out eight to ten businesses this year and the next. HSBC has already divested 49 units since 2011 and fired 42,000 personnel over the past two years.
U.S.-listed shares of HSBC Holdings plc (NYSE:HBC) (LON:HSBA) dipped 0.13% to $54.47 in early trading on Monday
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