In a memo sent to the group’s global staff, HSBC’s chief executive has confirmed plans to continue plans to cut 35,000 jobs.
Despite the Coronavirus putting the huge redundancy plans on hold, the banking group is set to push ahead with the job cuts over the medium term.
A memo sent round to global staff by chief executive, Noel Quinn, also explained plans to freeze worldwide recruitment.
“We could not pause the job losses indefinitely — it was always a question of ‘not if, but when’,” said Quinn.
“I wish I could say that the next few months will see a return to normality, but that is unlikely to be the case. The reality is that the measures and the change we announced in February are even more necessary today,” he added.
“Since February we have pressed forward with some aspects of our transformation programme, but we now need to look to the long-term and move ahead with others, including reducing our costs,” Quinn said in the memo sent to all 235,000 members of staff.
“Against this backdrop, I am writing to let you know we now need to lift the pause on job losses. I wish I could say that the next few months will see a return to normality, but that is unlikely to be the case. The reality is that the measures and the change we announced in February are even more necessary today,” he added.
The job cuts were originally planned for February but were put on hold during the pandemic.
Since the start of the year, HSBC (LON: HSBA) has seen shares fall by 27%. On the news this morning, shares in the group rose by 0.5% and are currently trading at 387.50 (0928GMT).