HSBA Hsbc Holdings Plc

HSBC Holdings PLC has delayed plans to cut thousands of jobs because of the new coronavirus.

In a memo to staff Thursday, Chief Executive Noel Quinn said the vast majority of job cuts will be paused, "because of the extraordinary impact of the COVID-19 pandemic."

The bank, one of the world's largest by assets, set out plans in February to eliminate around 35,000 jobs over three years through cuts, attrition and asset sales. The plans are part of a broader restructuring to improve returns by narrowing operations in the U.S. and Europe and ending unprofitable client relationships.

In the memo, reviewed by the Wall Street Journal, Mr. Quinn said those restructuring measures "remain crucial" but that job cuts need to be delayed "to better support our people during the present uncertainty." New hiring will also be frozen in most cases, he said.

The bank will continue working on other aspects of the restructuring, according to the memo, including combining back offices in its wholesale businesses and establishing a "RWA [risk-weighted assets] optimization unit" to shed capital-intensive assets.

Write to Margot Patrick at margot.patrick@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

March 26, 2020 12:06 ET (16:06 GMT)

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