I saw the insider report about HSBC having no control over job losses. In essence, employees having little control over their destiny given the focus of the company and lack of ability to close real estate based loans in this market.
I’m an insider. I work in the belly of the beast and am exposed to what’s going on behind the scenes. Talk around the water cooler frequently turns to discussions on this site. I’m amazed at how many very vested employees in the company are tuned in here.
Separately, I will confirm that the consumer finance business we are running is virtually adrift. We’re by far the most unfocused piece of HSBC NA vs. the credit card, banking and private label businesses. HFC and Beneficial were outstanding businesses for many years with revenue primarily driven from personal unsecured lending. The shift to subprime real estate secured lending really hit high gear in the 90s and went into turbo mode in the boom years through 06′. Revenue and focus shifted and the personal lending side is now almost non-existent.
I sit on numerous conference calls almost every day. I sit and participate in multiple meetings concerning our products, marketing plans, return to profitability etc. The fact is, leadership here is lost. Too many continue to think we can downsize gradually and eventually outlive the problems plaguing the market. Most seem to think a near term rebound in housing values will save the day and we’ll emerge again the real estate lending leaders in a new energized market. New prime products including FHA are out and being integrated into the retail branches to give HSBC multiple legs on the real estate lending stool so to speak. The reality is, the brand is very tarnished, the people are not incented and the fact is, the real estate market is likely not to return with enough fervor to ’save’ the day. The farm is being bet in continuing the overhead associated with 700+ brick and mortar branches when any consultant could see that this model won’t work.
We’re concerned here because the game plan is weak and many of us have a significant portion of our lives committed to our careers here. An honest and confidential survey of employees on job satisfaction and confidence in the current leadership would certainly reveal very negative results in my opinion.
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