HSBC is set for a restructure following its 2019 financial performance results, which revealed the bank could potentially see a loss of 35,000 jobs by 2022.
Announcing its 2019 results, HSBC’s group executive Noel Quinn said: “We will be investing in incremental headcount in areas of growth, but what we are sort of guiding the market to is we would expect our headcount to decrease from the current level of 235,000 to be closer to 200,000 in 2022. That is not a target.”
Quinn indicated that HSBC will adjust its headcount in line with how the business is progressing as well as factors relating to the economic environment.
He described the group’s 2019 performance as “resilient”, but added that “parts of our business are not delivering acceptable returns”.
In light of this, Quinn revealed that HSBC is outlining a revised plan to increase returns for investors, create the capacity for future investment, and build a platform for sustainable growth.
He said: “We have already begun to implement this plan, which my management team and I are committed to executing at pace.”
HSBC also noted that it intends to reduce capital and costs in its underperforming businesses to enable “continued investment in businesses with stronger returns and growth prospects, including in retail banking and wealth management and in all our businesses in Asia”.
In the report, HSBC also detailed that the plan is “to simplify [its] complex organisational structure, including a reduction in group and central costs while improving the capital efficiency of the group”.
The results showed that reported profit attributable to ordinary shareholders was down 53 percent to $6 billion, which HSBC said was materially impacted by a goodwill impairment of $7.3 billion.
HSBC also reported a loss before tax of $3.9 billion, impacted by a goodwill impairment of $7.3 billion and a $1 billion UK bank levy charge.
The report noted that to achieve the targets, HSBC expects to incur restructuring costs of around $6 billion and asset disposal costs of around $1.2 billion during the period to 2022, with the majority of restructuring costs incurred in 2020 and 2021.
