HSBC is planning to cut thousands of jobs – here’s what you need to know

HSBC is planning to cut thousands of jobs around the world as new CEO Georges Elhedery continues shaking up the global banking giant.

The first round of cuts will begin on 17 February in Asia’s investment banking division, according to media reports.

“As announced on October 2024, HSBC is focused on increasing leadership and market share in the areas where it has a clear competitive advantage and where it has the greatest opportunities to grow,” an HSBC spokesperson told Bloomberg.

Elhedery has taken the axe to big pasts of the business after joining in October, this includes cutting the size of his own group executive committee by about a third.

The latest round of cuts are expected to be completed by June, with about 40% of the company’s top 175 managers being affected.

The news comes ahead of HSBC’s full-year results on February 19. Analyst forecasts have predicted that the bank is going to post pre-tax profit of $31.7 billion for 2024, a 4.6% increase from the previous year.

HSBC shares dipped on the news of job cuts today, with experts saying that the investors expect the bank to go harder on job cuts.

Russ Mould, investment director at AJ Bell, said:  “Banking and pharma stocks pulled the market down, led by HSBC amid talk of more job cuts. Reducing staff numbers typically yields a positive reaction from the market as the business is saving money, yet investors might fear HSBC isn’t going hard enough with trimming its bloated headcount.”