HSBC Weighs 10% Staffing Cut as Banks Hand Off Work to AI

The layoffs are expected to mostly focus on non-client facing jobs in the bank’s service centers, though the plans are still being worked out, Bloomberg News reported Thursday (March 19), citing sources familiar with the matter.

The cuts could end up affecting around 20,000 positions, the equivalent of 10% of HSBC’s workforce, one source said. Other sources said the discussions predate the Iran War, and that no final decisions have been made.

PYMNTS has contacted HSBC for comment but has not yet gotten a reply.

As Bloomberg notes, HSBC CEO Georges Elhedery has overseen a far-reaching overhaul of the bank since becoming its leader in 2024. These changes involve layoffs and the sale, merger or closure of some of HSBC’s businesses.

In this current effort, sources said some of the roles being considered include positions where HSBC won’t replace staff, and that some of the cuts may come through business sales or exits, the Bloomberg report said.

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Bloomberg adds that its own research shows that banks worldwide could cut up to 200,000 jobs in the next three to five years as artificial intelligence (AI) takes over tasks typically done by human workers. 

PYMNTS examined this trend last month, writing that the most significant deployments of AI in the finance world are ones customers can’t see.

“They are unfolding inside compliance queues, cash management dashboards and payment routing engines, where AI agents now initiate tasks and move money based on live signals,” the report said. “That transition marks the first real test of whether financial institutions trust AI with operational authority.”

Meanwhile, recent PYMNTS Intelligence research shows that many workers feel confident their skills will still be valuable as technology evolves. 

That research looked at workers in the Labor Economy, or people who do “labor-intensive, task-based or contingent work such as gig work, freelancing, contracting and hourly wage roles.” By contrast, Non-Labor Economy workers are typically salaried employees in steady roles with predictable pay, longer-term employment contracts and more obvious career paths. 

“If any segment of the workforce were going to show concern about the threats of robotics, it would be them. But the data suggests that shift has not yet happened,” PYMNTS wrote.

The research found that 65.3% of Labor Economy workers felt confident their skills will remain valuable in the face of technological change, versus 73.7% of non-Labor Economy workers. 

“The gap reflects heightened exposure and uncertainty, not an expectation of near-term replacement,” PYMNTS added.