HSBC cuts 120 IT jobs

Apple Daily reports that HSBC cut 120 people from its IT department on Monday morning, quoting Francis Fong, founding Chairman of Hong Kong Association of Interactive Marketing, as a source.

Many of the retrenched staff had spent more than 10 years with the bank.  They were given three months’ salary as compensation.

Fong told HK01 that IT positions involving the operation of ATM machines are fading out, as consumers are moving to online banking.  As a result, more banks are outsourcing IT infrastructures and operation to mainland China and India to save cost.

The Hong Kong Banking Employees Association condemned HSBC for firing employees from the Hong Kong market, which is a major source of revenue for the bank.

Last month, the bank's Global Banking & Markets (GBM) division cut 20 staff members.  The affected employees were IT support for the GBM division, with some of them remote staff who worked from home.

In response to an email sent by Human Resources Magazine requesting confirmation of the job cuts, a HSBC spokesperson responded as follows: “HSBC has stated that it intends to find significant cost savings by the end of 2017, as part of its ongoing strategy to ensure the bank remains efficient and competitive.”

According to HSBC's annual report, the bank's headcount in Hong Kong in 2016 was 29,000, it was reduced by 1000 compared to a year ago.

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