Valentine gifts can be tricky. HSBC offers staff discounted laptops 'for him' and kitchen appliances 'for her'
.jpg)
HSBC has angered staff in Hong Kong over a Valentine’s day “special deal” of discounted laptops ‘for him’ but kitchen and cleaning appliances ‘for her’.
The multi-page advertisement was posted in internal chatrooms offers discounts on a range of goods. In the ‘for him’ section was tech items such as GoPro camera and wireless headphones, while ‘for her’ were things like vacuum cleaners, a blender and a kitchen water tap.
Called the ‘HSBC Staff Offer’, the bank said it was produced by an external company.
“The offer is from a third-party source who manage their own marketing materials,” a spokesperson told Reuters. “HSBC is committed to gender diversity in the workplace.”
The misstep comes on the back of a heated debate about sexism and gender pay gap in the banking sector.
Last December, HSBC disclosed that men earned 61% more than women in April, based on the average hourly salary of staffers. This was an increase from the 59% reported in 2017.
The bank has the widest gender pay gap of any large British company in 2017.
HSBC said the large gap reflected the fact there were fewer women in senior roles and more in junior ones, adding it was taking steps to bridge the gap.
One of which is targeting an increase in the ratio of women in senior management roles to 30% by 2020, from the current 23%.
