Archive for September, 2008

Is Cutting Jobs Easy for HSBC?


HSBC have announced that they are cutting jobs in an effort to reduce costs.
Could this be an attempt at saving money whilst ignoring other cost saving ideas that could protect jobs?

For instance, could HSBC choose reduce their bank hours on the high street by not opening their branches (in the UK) on a Saturday and use this method to reduce costs. This would be just one idea of a number for bank to reduce operating costs that would not cause job losses.

Or is it that reducing staff is the easiest solution for the bank, one that sees instant savings and which requires little managerial thought?

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Are layoffs the final solution to survival?

During past financial downturns companies would rush to lay off staff as a means of saving money. As a result the time taken to recover was longer because of the need to re-recruit talent. Most businesses seem to be avoiding this mistake in the current financial climate.

Sure, the unemployment figures are rising and the banks and construction sectors have laid off talent but there seems no rush to so from other sectors. There would seem to be an awareness from CEO’s that I am talking to that the one area that will allow a business to survive is “sales” and to retain talent for as long as possible.

However the question must be in people’s minds, “At what point will unemployment be the final option for survival?”.

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