(Hong Kong) Just several days after HSBC said it intended relocating jobs from its Hong Kong operation to mainland China, the Bank of America has announced it is doing the same.Bank of America said it would shed 60 jobs from its Hong Kong office and eight from Singapore, and establish new operations in Guangzhou. The cuts will come from the bank’s back office staff.
In what could be viewed as a worrying trend for Hong Kong, Bank of America said it was shifting much of its back office function to China for reasons of “cost effectiveness” – in other words, because labour is much cheaper in mainland China.
The new facility in China will support the bank’s trade finance business in Singapore and Hong Kong.