HSBC to double offshore operations as part of $1bn cost cuts

HSBC has warned it intends to double the size of its offshore operations to 25,000 staff in the next three years, raising job fears among UK workers.

The bank's COO Alan Jebson is quoted in newspaper reports as saying he has a target to save more than $1bn by the end of 2007 and that the move to offshore locations would be sped up as a result.

HSBC currently has around 13,000 staff already in countries such as China, India and the Philippines.

According to newspaper reports Jebson told reporters in Malaysia he would be very surprised if the bank had less than 15 global service centres employing less than 25,000 people by the end of 2007.

Jebson also said there had been no backlash from HSBC customers despite media reports and opposition from the trade unions.

The latest news follows the bank's cull of hundreds of IT and call centre positions in the UK as part of a wider 3,500 round of job cuts last year.

HSBC, however, insists Jebson's comments do not necessarily mean that further UK jobs will be offshored to cheaper overseas locations.