HSBC to cut 300 jobs in Taiwan

HSBC bank said Tuesday it would cut 10 percent of its staff in Taiwan, about 300 jobs, through a voluntary redundancy program amid slower loan growth in the global recession.
HSBC Taiwan Chief Executive Nicholas G. Winsor said some 150 of HSBC's 3,000 employees in Taiwan had so far signed up for the program.
He added however that the bank would in later months hire more people again to work in new branches that it plans to open in the country.
The cuts come as Taiwan faces a recession and HSBC integrates operations of The Chinese Bank, which it took over in late 2007.
"It is inevitable that loan growth in 2009 will not be as rapid as it has been in 2008 with the deleveraging going along the world's financial system, and a lot of investment projects have been put on hold," he told reporters.
"But it doesn't mean we are going to see a contraction in corporate lending."
As of October, HSBC Holdings' Taiwan operation had about 167 billion Taiwan dollars' (about five billion US) worth of loans outstanding, more than 50 percent higher than 110 billion Taiwan dollars a year earlier, according to data compiled by Taiwan's regulator, the Financial Supervisory Commission.