7:20pm Wednesday 4th November 2009
By Gareth Lewis
TWO hundred call centre workers who helped their bank make massive profits are today facing the axe.
HSBC in Southampton is to cull up to 228 of some of its lowest paid employees, many earning just £14,000 a year, it was revealed last night.
Unions reacted with fury to the decision attacking its timing just weeks after HSBC unveiled almost £3bn in profits for the first half of the year.
Staff told of their shock at the news the Southampton call centre in HSBC’s 14-storey Nelson’s Gate office is to close in June next year and how the announcement was met with tears.
At a stroke the decision reverses the tide of good employment news, which had seen 240 jobs created in Hampshire just last week. Electrical giant Best Buy and insurer Fortis created 100 positions each and bar chain Loungers a further 40.
In explanatory packs handed to staff at HSBC, bosses blamed the closure, which is expected to save £2.73m a year, on “tough and challenging times”.
HSBC employs more than 1,000 in its landmark offices and had recently praised the work of its call centre where up to 228 are now to go, as part of 1,700 job cuts nationwide.
One staff member, who did not want to be named, told how they heard the bleak news.
“Everyone was asked to go to a particular floor and then told the centre will be closing in June. Straightaway it went very quiet. No one had suspected at all,” he said. “To be honest, almost everyone was in tears. There were pregnant women there and other people just back from maternity.
Others had just bought houses and are now going to have difficulty paying the mortgage.
“It is an absolute shambles.
They have shown it is all about the money at the end of the day. This shouldn’t have happened given how successful our centre was compared with other sites. It’s a joke.
They are cutting jobs, but they are still paying bonuses.
How can they do that?”
Unite’s national officer Rob MacGregor said the union was “appalled”.
He added: “HSBC needs to urgently reconsider its strategy.
At a time of strong market performance by HSBC, they should not be cutting their most crucial asset, the staff that have contributed to £3bn half year profits and delivered market strength in a challenging financial climate.”
HSBC UK chief executive Paul Thurston said: “Decisions that affect our people are always difficult, but this restructure is an essential part of the streamlining of our business and the migration of activities into centres of excellence around the country.”
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