HSBC managers are competing to keep their jobs in CEO’s revamp
HSBC Holdings Plc has asked hundreds of managers to reapply for jobs in the firm’s newly formed corporate and institutional banking division as Chief Executive Officer Georges Elhedery continues his hunt for ways to make the bank run more efficiently.
Interviews are already underway, according to people familiar with the matter, essentially pitting senior staff who came from the commercial banking division against those from the global banking and markets unit to compete for the jobs available in the combined CIB division.
The process will result in the British bank beginning to dismiss several hundred managing directors and other senior bankers in the coming weeks, the people said, asking not to be identified discussing private deliberations. As part of the shake-up, HSBC will phase out its use of the general manager titles that it gives to some of its most senior staff and will instead give those employees managing director titles, a common rank at many major financial services businesses, the people added.
No final decisions have been made and the plans could change, they said. A representative for London-based HSBC, which employs roughly 215,100 staff worldwide, declined to comment.
The latest job cuts — aimed at cost savings and long telegraphed since the sweeping overhaul unveiled on Oct. 22 by Elhedery — come as the 159-year-old lender faces pressure on profit margins from a rate-cutting cycle by monetary authorities around the world. HSBC has reduced its headcount by more than 100,000 over the past 16
