ADVERTISEMENT

HSBC CEO Plans for Permanent Hybrid Work, Much Less Jet-Setting

SBC Holdings Plc isn’t about to throw away its pandemic-era ways of working.

HSBC CEO Plans for Permanent Hybrid Work, Much Less Jet-Setting
Noel Quinn, chief executive officer of HSBC Holdings Plc. (Photographer: Hollie Adams/Bloomberg)

HSBC Holdings Plc isn’t about to throw away its pandemic-era ways of working. 

The bank, which is in the midst of a historic pivot and cost cutting program, predicts it will be operating in a profoundly different way after the virus outbreak ebbs, with as many as 70% of its staff backing a hybrid working model and with its business travel budget cut in half. 

“My own view on the return to office is it would be a waste if we didn’t learn from the last 18 months,” Chief Executive Officer Noel Quinn said in a Bloomberg “Front Row” interview on Sept. 1.

With major hubs around the world, the bank has had over 90% of its staff working from home during the outbreak, managing to deliver on both cost cuts and a turnaround in key businesses. HSBC expects to shrink its property footprint by 40% and doesn’t plan to renew many of its city-center leases over the next years. The lender is shifting to a policy of about two employees per desk, excluding branches, and has even scrapped the executive floor at its Canary Wharf headquarters in London.

HSBC CEO Plans for Permanent Hybrid Work, Much Less Jet-Setting

While Quinn said he doesn’t want to be “overly prescriptive,” his expectations are now that staff who are able to would be allowed to work about three days of the week in the office. But he’s also aware of the benefits of the office culture.   

“I don’t want to lose that DNA and that teamwork,” he said. “I’m really glad to be back in the office, seeing colleagues and having conversations in the corridor or in getting stuff done on the spur of the moment, rather than having to book a VC call or a telephone call.”

Lenders such as Citigroup Inc. have also signaled a permanent shift in work-from-home rules, while Goldman Sachs Group Inc. and Morgan Stanley’s top executives have called for almost a full return, albeit with some flexibility.

At the same time, the drawn-out calamity of the pandemic has also caused the lender to look hard at business travel. The firm now expects its travel budget to be reduced 50%. 

“We’ve learned to live and operate in a very different way,” he said. 

HSBC CEO Plans for Permanent Hybrid Work, Much Less Jet-Setting

These lessons have been learned across the global business landscape. A Bloomberg survey of 45 large businesses in the U.S., Europe and Asia showed that 84% plan to spend less on travel post-pandemic. A majority of those cutting travel budgets see reductions of between 20% and 40%, with about two in three slashing both internal and external in-person meetings.  

Still, the CEO is looking forward to once again being able to visit China, the market where HSBC is now spending billions of dollars as part of a pivot to Asia.

“I remember one day sitting at home, I traveled the world in a day, talking to clients in different parts of the world,” he said. “You can’t do that forever. You still want to have face-to-face interaction.”  

©2021 Bloomberg L.P.