Upset as bank moves Hong Kong jobs to India

American Express has been making staff redundant in Hong Kong as a result of plan to centralise the majority of its IT jobs in India.

The firm is in the midst of a restructuring under Ruchika Panesar, who was appointed chief technology officer for Asia Pacific in January.

Sources say that six Hong Kong-based staff have been made redundant and one has relocated to the UK ahead of the company’s official return to office policy last month.

Under the plan, which is known internally as 'new generation transformation', new positions will be created and located in India as Panesar looks to streamline the technology function’s geographic footprint. She was appointed to her current role after previously working as CTO for India, according to her LinkedIn profile.

But one source warned that centralising the IT workforce in India could create problems with staffing and resources. “Similar situations happened when the COVID19 / Delta Variant in India got worse most of the resources support were out sick / not able to work.”

A spokesperson for American Express said: “American Express constantly reviews our operations and from time to time we make changes to ensure we remain agile, operate as efficiently as possible, and stay ahead of our customers’ needs.”

“Hong Kong is an important market for American Express, and one in which we will continue to invest.”

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