HSBC sacks 365, another round on Tuesday

Till Wednesday, he was the vice-president of a vertical at HSBC. It was a ‘Band 5’ position he was proud of, having worked with the “glocal” bank for over five years.

That day, he was commiserating with a batch of colleagues who were just given the pink slip, and thanking his stars he wasn’t one of them.

On Thursday, the stars misaligned — he copped it, too.
“It was a surgical detachment,” he said.

If it was any consolation, he was not alone. At least 700 employees of the Indian subsidiary of HSBC Plc, are getting the axe, according to sources familiar with the development.
Of this, 365 were sacked on Monday alone, “across positions, across locations”.

“Managers who don’t have 5-8 reportees under them have to leave,” said another source. “These are generally ‘Band 5’ employees or vice-presidents and above.”

HSBC grades staff between Band 1 and 7.

Some of them who got the sack spoke to DNA on the condition of anonymity.

They told of getting calls on April 18 evening, asking them to reach their zonal or regional reporting office in another city immediately.
Like this employee who was told on April 18 to reach Bangalore the next morning. They sent him his air ticket late that night for the early morning flight.

On reaching the place, he was told the bank was restructuring and some positions had become redundant,  his being one.

“We were told we’d be compensated adequately and cheques will reach us soon. We got a month’s pay for every year of service, apart from leave encashment and notice period payment, apart from the mandatory benefits,” said an employee whose services was terminated on Monday.

On Saturday, HSBC held a conference call for some employees and assured them there would be no further layoffs in certain departments, but others will have to bear the brunt.

The whole process is expected to continue till April 25 - that’s when the bank’s monthly salary calculation cycle ends — and will be completed by April 30, sources said.

Speculation is that, apart from broking, HSBC is planning to shut its retail and insurance business in the country, but a company spokesperson said there are no such plans.

Responding to DNA’s queries, the bank said in a statement: “India is a key market for HSBC and one in which we will continue to invest. The whole of the HSBC Group is going through a global programme that is aimed at improving efficiency, increasing our revenue capability and ensuring our long-term, sustainable growth. HSBC India, as part of the Group, will also be implementing this global programme. We are not going to comment on rumours and speculation about our people.”

“However, we can say that where any staffs are impacted, we will make every effort to support our people through redeployment, counselling, in-placement and out-placement services.”

HSBC went into recast, especially in Asia and Latin America, after chief executive Stuart Gulliver said last year the bank was bringing costs down, including 30,000 job cuts and retreat from over 60 countries.