RBC staffers worry about layoffs with acquisition of HSBC: report

There is some uncertainty about the employment status of former Hongkong and Shanghai Banking Corporation (HSBC) workers within the Royal Bank of Canada (RBC), according to a report.

Overall, 45% of HSBC Canada alumni on LinkedIn said that they were still searching for internal jobs at RBC, according to a survey of a 1,000-member group of HSBC Canada alumni, reported Reuters.

While 32% had secured roles within RBC, 19% had applied for departure agreements.

A similar poll in July showed 33% of respondents were seeking internal roles, 24% had left RBC and 19% had permanent roles, according to the report.

Reuters, however, noted that it could not verify the group's members were RBC employees.

In March, RBC received federal approval to proceed with its acquisition of HSBC. Chrystia Freeland, Canada's deputy prime minister and minister of finance, approved the deal on March 21, the two banks said.

Staffing after HSBC acquisition

RBC agreed with the government to keep about 3,000 former corporate HSBC staff employed for six months as a condition of its C$13.4-billion acquisition of HSBC's Canadian business, according to the Reuters report. 

RBC had found roles for nearly 80% – or about 3,600, including corporate and retail staff – of HSBC Canada's former workforce of 4,500 people, according to the report.

"It would have been very naive for anyone to think that there's not going to be significant duplication and a significant loss of jobs over time because of this merger," said Toronto-based employment lawyer Lior Samfiru in the Reuters report.

In a town hall meeting in December, RBC CEO Dave McKay told HSBC Canada staff that they should not worry as “there is so much opportunity” within the organization, according to Reuters.

RBC reduced its workforce headcount in the past year, as have other employers including Canfor, Mastercard, SkipTheDishes, Cisco and Indeed.