HSBC Slashing 3.6 Million Square Feet in Office Space With Shift to Flexible Working -- Financial News
April 27 2021 - 6:25AM
Dow Jones News
By Paul Clarke
Of Financial News
HSBC Holdings PLC will cut 3.6 million square feet of office
space this year as the majority of its workforce move into a
flexible working model in the aftermath of the Covid-19
pandemic.
The U.K. lender plans to cut up to 20% of its real-estate
footprint by the end of this year, its chief executive Noel Quinn
said during its first quarter earnings call, reflecting a permanent
shift in the way the bank's employees work.
"We're moving to a hybrid working model wherever possible,
giving our people the flexibility to work in a way that suits both
them and their customers," said Mr. Quinn. "We will need less
office space as a result."
The planned reduction in office space this year represents
around half of the 40% reduction in real estate outlined by chief
operating officer John Hinshaw in February.
While Mr. Quinn didn't outline specific plans for how the bank's
new hybrid approach would work for the majority of its some 226,000
staff, he said the "future should be different to the past" and
banks need to embrace flexible working, which will help with
diversity initiatives.
"Many organizations used to talk about flexible working, and
allowing people to get a work-life balance, but I don't think we
really, as a community of businesses, we really embraced that to
the fullest possible extent," he added. "I think now is the time to
embrace it much more fully."
HSBC's executive team have given up their offices on the 42nd
floor of its Canary Wharf headquarters, instead opting for hot
desks in an open-plan floor two storeys below.
"Our offices were empty half the time because we were traveling
around the world. That was a waste of real estate," Mr. Quinn told
the Financial Times. "If I'm asking our colleagues to change the
way that they're working, then it's only right that we change the
way we're working."
Website: www.fnlondon.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
April 27, 2021 06:10 ET (10:10 GMT)
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