HSBC announces 1,200 UK job cuts

by Gill Montia

Story link: HSBC announces 1,200 UK job cuts

HSBC has announced that it is cutting approximately 1,200 UK jobs.

The bank, which employs around 58,000 people in the UK, has weathered the credit crisis well compared to most of its High Street rivals.

However, it expects the operating environment for banks in Britain to remain extremely challenging for some time and is therefore reshaping the business.

Customer service staff in branches will be unaffected by the move, which will focus mainly on reducing the headcount in processing and operations areas of the business, although jobs in finance, human resources and information technology will also be lost.

Redundancies can be expected across the UK but HSBC says it will be closing entire sites in Leamington Spa and Newport in Wales, which employ around 290 and 90 staff respectively.

Earlier this month the bank reported a 62% fall in profit for 2008, to £6.5 billion.

The group also confirmed that it will be embarking on a £12.5 billion rights issue that could steal the record for the UK’s largest corporate fundraising from Royal Bank of Scotland, which raised £12 billion in June of last year.