600 HSBC jobs to be axed in Sheffield and Tankersley
The IT roles will be transferred from the UK to other sites around the world, including India, China and Poland
Nearly 600 HSBC jobs are to be axed in Sheffield and Tankersley.
In total, 840 IT roles will be transferred from the UK to other sites around the world, including India, China and Poland. The move is expected to be completed by March 2017.
John Hackett, chief operating officer of HSBC UK, said: *In our investor update in June 2015, and many times since, we have stated that we are targeting significant cost reductions by the end of 2017.*
As part of a global relocation exercise, around 840 non-customer-facing IT roles will transfer from the UK to other sites around the world by the end of March 2017.
The UK will continue to play an important role in HSBC's global IT infrastructure, employing several thousand IT professionals.''
Dominic Hook, national officer of the Unite union, said: HSBC's decision to axe so many IT jobs is as ruthless as it is reckless.
For almost a year, staff have been left in the dark about their futures, only to be told that before being shown the door they're expected to train someone in India or China who will do their job for less money.
It's a deeply cynical move by a bank which wants to be an 'Employer of Choice'.
*Offshoring IT jobs to so-called low cost economies is extremely short sighted. As IT glitches across the banks continue to prove, it is ultimately the customers who will suffer the consequences.*
Unite will continue to support our members throughout this process and work with our sister international trade unions to end this cynical race to the bottom.''
Of the 840 roles affected, 595 are in Sheffield and Tankersley.
The bank says it will 'help and support' all employees through the process.
In a separate announcement, the bank also says four “satellite” branches in Sheffield will close – Woodseats, Ecclesall and Hillsborough in August 2016 and Fargate in November 2016.
It says a total of 14 people work in these four branches, who will all be 'redeployed'.
HSBC told Hallam they will "continue to support customers through our other branches in the city and the Post Office network, where business and personal customers can conduct their banking transactions with HSBC." John Hackett, COO of HSBC UK said: “Sheffield is a key regional hub for HSBC and remains a major centre of excellence for our IT operations.
"We are in advanced discussions with Sheffield City Council about investing in a new office building, and will continue to employ more than 2,700 people in Sheffield after these redundancies.
"We support more than 7,000 business customers in Sheffield, and we recently launched a £850m loan fund for businesses in Yorkshire.”