HSBC cuts hundreds of UK IT jobs

HSBC is cutting 840 IT jobs in the UK and moving them overseas as part of its global delivery network strategy.

The non-customer-facing jobs, most of which are in Sheffield, Tankersley and London, will move to India, China and Poland by April 2017.

“The relocation of these roles is part of HSBC’s large and ongoing IT investment to build a global world-class IT infrastructure,” said HSBC. “In addition, as publicly stated many times, we’ve targeted significant cost reductions.”

John Hackett, chief operation officer at HSBC UK, said: “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.”

The cuts are part of the bank’s cost-cutting strategy, announced in 2015, that will see about 8,000 jobs go by the end of 2017.

Large businesses are taking advantage of global delivery networks, which allow them to use different parts of the world for business services, including IT.

But Dominic Hook, national officer for finance at union Unite, said HSBC’s decision to axe so many IT jobs was 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,” said Hook.

“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,” he added.

HSBC is not alone. In April, Lloyds Banking Group reduced its UK IT workforce by around 80 people, with half of those moving to India.