HSBC plans to resume thousands of job cuts planned as part of chief executive Noel Quinn’s strategy to further pivot to Asia, but paused in March as the coronavirus pandemic pushed the global economy towards a recession.
Quinn said in an internal memorandum on Wednesday
that the measures, originally announced in February as part of an effort to reduce annual costs by US$4.5 billion, “are even more necessary today”, adding that “virtually all economic forecasts point to challenging times ahead”.
Quinn said Hong Kong’s biggest lender still intends to proceed with efforts to cut its headcount from about 235,000 people currently to close to 200,000 in the “medium term”. The bank had previously said the cost cuts would be fully implemented by 2022.

“I know that this will not be welcome news and that it will create understandable concern and uncertainty, but I want to be open with you about the reality of the current situation,” he said in a memo.
A HSBC spokeswoman confirmed the contents of the memo on Wednesday.
The job cuts were paused in March as the coronavirus pandemic forced cities from New York to London to Singapore into lockdown and began to weigh heavily on economic activity. “The decisions we are announcing today enable us to better support our people during the present uncertainty, while remaining focused on our ambition to transform the bank,” Quinn said at the time, in a memo on March 26.