HSBC announces 1,100 job cuts

HSBC has become the latest financial services giant to announce job cuts due to the ongoing crisis in global investment banking. The banking group says it will axe 1,100 worldwide in the next few months.

It says that about half of the cuts will affect back-room jobs at its global banking and markets operation in the UK. It is unclear if marketing jobs will be affected as part of this cull.

HSBC’s decision follows yesterday’s (September 25) announcement by Bradford & Bingley, that it is cutting 370 jobs because of reduced demand for its mortgages.

An HSBC spokesman says the job losses are a result of “tough market conditions and the economic environment, and our cautious outlook for 2009”.

The news comes as HBOS confirms that it is expecting to make job cuts following its merger with Lloyds TSB. A spokesperson says it will take three years for the businesses to come together, and jobs will be cut in a phased approach.

It is thought around 40,000 jobs will be lost as a result of the merger, though it is unclear where these cuts will take effect.

Yesterday, Bradford & Bingley also announced it is cutting 370 jobs in the UK, following the closure of a mortgage processing centre. It is also reducing its sales team that deals with mortgage brokers.

The job cuts come as the financial services sector comes under increased pressure from the credit crisis.

In the US, the Government is proposing to buy bad debts from US banks in order to try and prevent the ongoing crisis from deepening. Prime Minister Gordon Brown has been involved in the US discussions, prompting speculation the UK may opt to go down the same route.