HSBC decision to axe 30,000 jobs likely to affect IT

HSBC's chairman, Douglas Flint, said today that the global financial institution plans to cut a further 25,000 jobs by 2013. Some of these cuts are likely to affect IT.

These new cuts follow 5,000 job losses announced in the past six months. Of these, 700 will affect UK staff.

A spokesperson for HSBC confirmed to Computing that, of the further 25,000 cuts, it is "likely that some of them will be in IT".

HSBC is reassessing the strategy of its different business areas, including commercial, retail, private and global banking, and said that IT jobs could be lost in any of the 87 countries in which the bank operates.

"The strategy that has been laid out says that if any of the business areas in any of the countries that we operate in do not have potential for growth, or are not market leading, we will look to withdraw from those markets," said the HSBC spokesperson.

However, HSBC believes the UK does have growth potential and, of the 700 job losses announced, only a small amount are likely to come from IT.

"All of our business areas in the UK are doing well, and it is unlikely that it will see significant further losses," said the spokesperson.

"Some 500 of the 700 losses in the UK are coming from financial advisers in our branch network. However, it is possible that IT support roles for the financial advisers might make up some of the remaining 200 positions lost."

In its half-year earnings, HSBC reported pre-tax profit of £7bn, which is a 3 per cent increase on the bank's results at this time last year.