HSBC to cut 600 jobs in Sheffield

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-36301209

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HSBC has announced it will transfer 840 IT jobs from the UK to other sites around the world, with almost 600 posts in Sheffield being axed.

The bank said 595 jobs were to go in Sheffield and Tankersley, and 30 in Leeds.

It is part of a planned 8,000 UK-wide cuts which were announced last June.

Unite, the union for bank workers, said it was a "reckless" drive to move jobs offshore to low cost countries like India, China, and Poland.

HSBC said: "Separately, we're also announcing that four small "satellite" branches in Sheffield will close - Woodseats, 427 Ecclesall Road, and Hillsborough in August 2016 and Fargate in November 2016.

"A total of 14 people work in these four branches, all of whom will be redeployed."

John Hackett of HSBC UK said: "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."

Unite said jobs would also go at HSBC IT centres in Birmingham and Leeds and that thousands of staff had been "cruelly kept in the dark" about their futures since last summer's announcement.

'Deeply cynical'

The union said staff would be expected to train their overseas successors, with Dominic Hook, National Officer for Finance, adding the bank's decision was "as ruthless as it is reckless".

Mr Hook said: "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."

Last June, HSBC announced a total of 25,000 jobs could be axed globally, meaning close to 10% of HSBC's 266,000 workers will go.

The bank will also rebrand its UK high street branches but is yet to decide on a new name.

HSBC is Europe's largest bank with 48,000 UK workers.