HSBC resumes cutting around 35,000 jobs -memo
LONDON, June 17 (Reuters) - HSBC is resuming a massive redundancy plan it had put on ice following the outbreak of coronavirus, and will cut 35,000 jobs over the medium term, a memo seen by Reuters on Wednesday showed.
The bank will also maintain a freeze on almost all external recruitment, Chief Executive Noel Quinn said in the memo sent to the bank's 235,000 staff worldwide.
"We could not pause the job losses indefinitely - it was always a question of 'not if, but when'," Quinn said.
A spokeswoman for the bank confirmed the contents of the memo.
HSBC had originally postponed the job cuts, part of a wider restructuring aimed at reducing costs, in March when it said the extraordinary circumstances of the COVID-19 pandemic meant it would have been wrong to push staff out.
The bank now has to resume the programme as its profits fall and economic forecasts point to a challenging time ahead, Quinn said, adding that he has asked senior executives to look at ways the bank can cut costs in the second half of the year. (Reporting By Lawrence White and Sinead Cruise, Editing by Rachel Armstrong)
