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By Lawrence White
LONDON, Feb 23 (Reuters) - HSBC plans to nearly
halve its office space globally over the long term as part of a
cost-cutting drive set out on Tuesday, in a further sign the
pandemic could mean permanent changes to working patterns.
HSBC aims to cut its office footprint by 40% over the
long-term, the bank said in an analyst presentation accompanying
its full-year results.
The bank's CEO Noel Quinn said the reduction would come from
axing office buildings as their leases come to an end and would
not include branches or HSBC's headquarters building in London's
Canary Wharf.
Retained buildings will be used more flexibly, Quinn said.
"We are focused on those offices with support functions and
head office activities when we talk about the 40% reduction,"
Quinn said.
"We believe we'll achieve it via a very different style of
working post-COVID with a more hybrid model.
"Take London, for example, we will have the building at
Canary Wharf, this will be the primary office but the nature of
working in the office will change."
The UK government said on Monday that home working should
continue until further notice as it plotted a gradual easing of
the country's lockdown, meaning company offices will remain
largely empty for months.
Several banks have said they will adopt more hybrid working
after most of their staff switched to working from home in the
pandemic, but few have spelled out a specific target for
reducing space.
HSBC's Asia-focused rival Standard Chartered moved
to permanent flexible working in November, later signing an
agreement with flexible workspace provider IWG.
Executives at some banks including Barclays and
JPMorgan have cooled on the idea of widescale remote
working, arguing over the longer term it is taking a toll on
staff wellbeing and proving less effective.
HSBC unveiled a revised strategy focused mainly on wealth
management in Asia after the pandemic saw its annual profits
drop sharply.
(Reporting by Lawrence White; writing by Iain Withers; editing
by Rachel Armstrong and Jason Neely)
