HSBC should beware of bonus paucity: people already want to leave
Back in October, HSBC suggested its bonuses would be up 9% on an already-record 2023. Now it seems that may not be the case. The bank’s bonus pool last year was at a decade high, but Bloomberg reports today that bonuses this year will "disappoint", according to internal guidance.
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If Bloomberg is right, there might be issues for new(ish) CEO Georges Elhedery. HSBC's investment bank hasn't done badly. Salespeople and traders had a spectacular first nine months of 2024, with equities revenues rising by 78% year-on-year.
M&A and equity capital markets bankers didn't do as well in the first three quarters. Data from LSEG (formerly Refinitiv) suggests HSBC's investment banking revenues rose by only 7% across 2024 as a whole. The global fee pool grew by 14%.
What’s worse for Elhedery is that HSBC’s people are rather… Skittish. Our bonus expectations and job market sentiment survey late last year suggested HSBC’s were expecting a 55% bonus increase and were unusually prone to leaving.
55% of HSBC respondents to our survey planned to look for a new job in 2025, well ahead of the global average of 38%.
It doesn't help that something like 18,000 HSBC employees are due to be placed on the chopping block there over the course of the year. 46% of HSBC’s people described themselves as feeling insecure in their role, more than the industry average of 42%. HSBC is cutting anywhere up to 40% of any given management layer, depending on seniority.
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