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Banks brace for slower growth

Dubai - HSBC has cut around 150 jobs in its retail and commercial banking units while FGB has cut close to 70 jobs.

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Issac John

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Published: Mon 23 Nov 2015, 11:00 PM

Last updated: Tue 24 Nov 2015, 12:12 PM

Two banks in the UAE - HSBC and First Gulf Bank - confirmed on Monday job cuts in response to changing global and regional market scenarios in the backdrop of slower growth and lower oil income.
HSBC has cut around 150 jobs in its retail and commercial banking units, banking sources said.
An HSBC spokeswoman, in a statement to Khaleej Times, said: "As flagged in our investor update, we have targeted significant cost reductions by the end of 2017, and we continually review and manage our overall headcount requirements."
But she declined to comment on the size of the job cuts.
FGB, the third-largest UAE lender by assets, has cut close to 70 jobs.
"First Gulf Bank released a number of staff as a result of efficiency measures that have streamlined and reduced roles across the operation," the bank said in a statement on Monday.
FGB also did not confirm the number of job cuts, but said the restructuring was in line with its "robust approach to cost and resources management which remains a key driver of FGB's successful financial performance".
HSBC, which employs more than 8,000 people in the Middle East and North Africa, said in June that it would reduce its head count by up to 50,000 as part of a global overhaul that would save it $5 billion in annual costs within two years.
Analysts had predicted that the move would have its repercussions in the region.
HSBC, which has a strong presence in the UAE, has been operating in Dubai since 1946.
In the Mena, HSBC has over 250 branches and employs more than 8,000 full-time employees, just less than four per cent of its global workforce of 258,000 as of December 2014. In the UAE, which is one of its key priority markets, HSBC has eight branches.
- issacjohn@khaleejtimes.com