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HSBC is consulting on steep proposed job cuts in its UK wealth management business as it looks to use artificial intelligence and digital services more extensively, the Financial Times reported on Wednesday, October 7. The reported reductions could affect about half of management and specialist positions and around 70% of financial adviser roles, according to people familiar with the plans cited by the newspaper.
The figures are proposed reductions, not a confirmed final tally. HSBC has not disclosed how many employees work in the UK wealth business, and Reuters reported that the bank did not immediately respond to its request for comment outside regular business hours. The Financial Times report said affected staff are expected to leave by the end of October, while consultation is under way.
Proposed reductions span advisers and specialists
The reported cuts would reach beyond management positions. Financial advisers, who work directly with clients, could face reductions of about 70%, while management and specialist roles could be cut by roughly half. The sources cited by the Financial Times did not provide a total number of jobs that might be affected.
Reuters reported that HSBC is thought to have hundreds of relationship managers across the country, but the bank does not publish a headcount for its UK wealth operation. Without a disclosed staffing baseline, the percentages do not establish how many employees could leave or how the changes would be distributed among teams and locations.
Bank describes a shift toward digital services
In a statement to Reuters, HSBC described its UK operation as an established wealth manager and premium banking provider. It said it was continuing to evolve the business with more digitally enabled products and customer journeys, saying the aim was to support its wealth service and meet changing customer needs.
The statement did not specify which services would use AI, whether particular tasks would be automated, or how clients would be affected by the proposed staffing changes. Nor did the reported coverage provide details of redeployment, voluntary departures or other arrangements for employees in consultation.
AI has become part of HSBC’s wider strategy
The proposed UK changes come amid a broader effort by HSBC chief executive Georges Elhedery to make AI part of the bank’s strategy to simplify operations. In May, at an investor day, Elhedery said generative AI would destroy some jobs and create others, and said the bank was training employees to adapt to technology-driven changes.
Reuters reported that HSBC has been applying AI across functions including customer onboarding, financial risk monitoring, contact centres and wealth management. The bank has also said it is equipping relationship managers with an AI tool that supplies real-time market insights and personalised investment strategies. Those broader initiatives provide context for the UK proposal, but they do not, on their own, establish which specific jobs AI would replace.
A reversal of recent hiring, with next steps unclear
The Financial Times described the planned reductions as a reversal of a hiring drive started about two years ago to expand HSBC’s UK wealth and private banking operations. That chronology underscores how quickly the staffing approach may be changing as the bank reshapes its services around digital tools, though the reports do not give figures for the earlier recruitment or the roles added.
For now, the reported timetable and scale remain subject to consultation. The available reporting does not set out a final decision date, confirmed job-loss total, or detailed plan for maintaining adviser coverage. HSBC’s public comments have emphasized digital services and changing customer needs, while the exact operational changes—and their effect on employees and clients—remain undisclosed.
