HSBC moves more than 1,200 UK staff to permanent home working
Skip to main content
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
The Business Standard
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
TUESDAY, MAY 17, 2022
  • Home
  • Economy
  • Stocks
  • Analysis
  • World+Biz
  • Sports
  • Splash
  • Features
  • Videos
  • Long Read
  • Games
  • Epaper
  • More
    • COVID-19
    • Bangladesh
    • Infograph
    • Interviews
    • Offbeat
    • Thoughts
    • Podcast
    • Quiz
    • Tech
    • Subscribe
    • Archive
    • Trial By Trivia
    • Magazine
    • Supplement
  • বাংলা
HSBC moves more than 1,200 UK staff to permanent home working

Global Economy

Reuters
07 April, 2021, 06:50 pm
Last modified: 07 April, 2021, 06:55 pm

Related News

  • 'Forerunners Rashid Choudhury, Murtaja Baseer, Debdas Chakraborty – their pedagogy and modernist approach' opens at Bengal Shilpalay
  • Winners recognised at the '2nd HSBC Business Excellence Awards’
  • 9 entities win HSBC Business Excellence Awards
  • HSBC structures Bangladesh’s first gender equality indexed loan
  • HSBC voted ‘market leader’ and ‘best service’ in Bangladesh by Euromoney

HSBC moves more than 1,200 UK staff to permanent home working

Around 70% of the bank’s 1,800 call centre staff based across England, Wales and Scotland had volunteered to never return to the office, Unite, one of Britain’s biggest employment unions

Reuters
07 April, 2021, 06:50 pm
Last modified: 07 April, 2021, 06:55 pm
Hong Kong was never just another city. Photo: Bloomberg
Hong Kong was never just another city. Photo: Bloomberg

HSBC is moving more than 1,200 staff in Britain to permanent working from home contracts, in one of the strongest indications yet of how banks are locking in changes to employees' work patterns as a result of the pandemic to cut costs.

Around 70% of the bank's 1,800 call centre staff based across England, Wales and Scotland had volunteered to never return to the office, Unite, one of Britain's biggest employment unions, told Reuters.

Scores of companies have quickly cemented hybrid working and cut office space, but HSBC's move to base some staff permanently at home goes further than most rivals opting for a mixed approach.

Such changes could lead to wellbeing concerns long term if not handled properly, Unite said.

A HSBC UK spokesman said: "We are in discussions with contact centre colleagues who serve HSBC UK retail customers about ways that we can offer flexibility on work location while ensuring the way we work meets our customers' needs. These discussions are continuing."

Unite said HSBC has offered staff a 300 pounds ($414.75) per year working from home top-up payment to cover additional expenses such as higher heating and electricity bills.

Dominic Hook, the union's national officer, said the contract changes for the 70% opting in were being finalised with teams, with those taking it up expected only to come in to HSBC offices for training.

A quarter of staff declined the offer as they wanted to work in the office at least some of the time, while 5% preferred to go back to the office permanently.

HSBC and other British banks have started to cut office space partly because staff are working from home.

HSBC had already closed a call centre in Swansea, South Wales since the pandemic. Its main two remaining call centres are in Leeds in northern England and Hamilton, Scotland.

Hook said the union was broadly supportive of the change as it was voluntary, but warned other banks against forcing staff to stay at home if they did not want to and to ensure staff did not feel isolated and were properly supported.

"HSBC are at the forefront of this," Hook said. "If it's genuinely voluntary and people's rights are protected then that's fine, but people need to go in with their eyes wide open.

"After a year it may not seem that bad, but after five it might feel different."

($1 = 0.7233 pounds)

World+Biz

HSBC

Comments

While most comments will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive, moderation decisions are subjective. Published comments are readers’ own views and The Business Standard does not endorse any of the readers’ comments.

Top Stories

  • Illustration: TBS
    How Putin revived Nato
  • Are banks only gainers from dollar crisis?
    Are banks only gainers from dollar crisis?
  • Urban areas are already emerging as the new poverty frontier. Photo: Mumit M/TBS
    TCB truck sales apparently draw to a close

MOST VIEWED

  • Photo: AFP
    India's April wholesale price inflation accelerates to 15.08%
  • Workers pass by a sales person as they walk towards the City of London financial district as they cross London Bridge during the morning rush hour in London, Britain, September 8, 2021. REUTERS
    UK unemployment falls to lowest since 1974
  • Despite much fear, Russia’s exclusion from SWIFT is yet to have any severe ramifications for the Western money market. PHOTO: REUTERS
    Dollar knocked from 20-year high; yuan slide pauses
  • FILE PHOTO: Ears of wheat are seen in a field near the village of Zhovtneve, Ukraine, July 14, 2016. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko/File Photo/File Photo
    US backs UN push to get Ukraine grain back to global market
  • Founder, Chairman, CEO and President of Amazon Jeff Bezos speaks during an event about Blue Origin's space exploration plans in Washington, US, May 9, 2019/ Reuters
    Bezos and White House battle over taxes and inflation
  • A man counts Sri Lankan rupees at a money exchange counter in Colombo September 4, 2015. REUTERS/Dinuka Liyanawatte
    Sri Lankan rupee depreciation swells private credit in March

Related News

  • 'Forerunners Rashid Choudhury, Murtaja Baseer, Debdas Chakraborty – their pedagogy and modernist approach' opens at Bengal Shilpalay
  • Winners recognised at the '2nd HSBC Business Excellence Awards’
  • 9 entities win HSBC Business Excellence Awards
  • HSBC structures Bangladesh’s first gender equality indexed loan
  • HSBC voted ‘market leader’ and ‘best service’ in Bangladesh by Euromoney

Features

Despite Bangladesh having about 24,000 km of waterways, only a few hundred kilometres are covered by commercial launch services. Photo: Saad Abdullah

Utilising waterways: When common home-goers show the way

32m | Panorama
Illustration: TBS

How Putin revived Nato

2h | Panorama
The reception is a volumetric box-shaped room that has two glass walls on both the front and back ends and the other two walls are adorned with interior plants, wood and aluminium screens. Photo: Noor-A-Alam

The United House: Living and working inside nature

2h | Habitat
Pcycle team members at a waste management orientation event. Photo: Courtesy

Pcycle: Turning waste from bins into beautiful crafts

3h | Panorama

More Videos from TBS

Can your coworker be your closest friend?

Can your coworker be your closest friend?

3h | Videos
The mystery behind Pyramid

The mystery behind Pyramid

3h | Videos
Finland, Sweden decide to join NATO

Finland, Sweden decide to join NATO

15h | Videos
Where you can swim for Tk5

Where you can swim for Tk5

17h | Videos

Most Read

1
Representative Photo: Pixabay.
Bangladesh

Microplastics found in 5 local sugar brands

2
Mushfiq Mobarak. Photo: Noor-A-Alam
Panorama

Meet the Yale professor who anchors his research in Bangladesh and scales up interventions globally

3
Impact of falling taka against US dollar
Banking

Taka losing more value as global currency market volatility persists

4
Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve
Economy

Govt tightens belt to relieve reserve

5
Union Capital asked to return Tk100cr FDR to BATBC 
Banking

Union Capital asked to return Tk100cr FDR to BATBC 

6
How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives
Bazaar

How Bangladesh can achieve edible oil self-sufficiency with local alternatives

The Business Standard
Top
  • Home
  • Entertainment
  • Sports
  • About Us
  • Bangladesh
  • International
  • Privacy Policy
  • Comment Policy
  • Contact Us
  • Economy
  • Sitemap
  • RSS

Contact Us

The Business Standard

Main Office -4/A, Eskaton Garden, Dhaka- 1000

Phone: +8801847 416158 - 59

Send Opinion articles to - oped.tbs@gmail.com

For advertisement- sales@tbsnews.net

Copyright © 2022 THE BUSINESS STANDARD All rights reserved. Technical Partner: RSI Lab