'Staff at end of tether,' Unite union says, as bank announces job cuts as part of changes to provision of financial advice

Unions are planning to ballot for strike at HBSC after the UK's biggest bank warned 3,166 staff that their roles were at risk.

The bank further infuriated unions by describing the job cuts as "demising" roles, although HSBC insisted that because of new jobs being created the number of redundancies drops to 1,149.

From 1 June, the financial advisers across the group will be combined and staff dealing with its 900,000 "premier" customers, those with deposits of more than £50,000, will need to be better qualified.

"HSBC is making staff suffer in the search for ever greater profits. The bank's behaviour is a disgrace. After making proposals to slash pensions, holidays and sick pay the bank is now slashing even more jobs," said Unite national officer, Dominic Hook.

"Staff are at the end of their tether and we will be asking them in due course if they are prepared to take part in a strike ballot to oppose this unprecedented attack by this very profitable bank," said Hook.

The bank said the "integration of advisers means the roles of commercial financial advisers will be demised." It added it would be "demising" the jobs of 942 "relationship managers" who do not give financial advice and do not hold the necessary qualifications to be able to do so.

The decision by the bank to describe the cuts as "demising" prompted the union to add: "This is demeaning for staff who are real people and their lives are going to be drastically affected."

The union also wants the bank to extend the consultation period – for redundancies although the bank insisted it had begun consultation with Unite at the beginning of March – to a full 90 days to implement the changes.

The day after the bank's chairman, Douglas Flint, warned that new rules on the way financial advice is offered to customers could lead to poorer customers being squeezed out, HSBC revealed the impact on its 47,000 staff across the UK from changes requiring customers to pay upfront for financial advice.

The bank refused to specify the precise number of other roles being axed but said 94 "business specialist roles" – staff who support small business customers – will be cut while 70 international business manager roles will be created. Jobs in "other support functions" are also going. Almost a year ago to the day, HSBC announced 3,167 job cuts, some 650 of which were again related to regulatory changes involving the way financial advice is provided to customers.

In his first major decision since being promoted in September to run the retail bank in the UK, Antonio Simoes said: "These proposals, together with the recent removal of all sales targets for our employees and the complete decoupling of incentives from those sales, mean our customers can expect us to fully focus on serving their needs and do the right thing. Evolving and improving our culture will take time but the changes announced today are another step in the right direction."

The bank insisted it was "doing everything possible to offer impacted employees opportunities" from 2,017 new jobs that are being created. The bank said it was creating a "diploma qualified adviser workforce of 853 people" up from 571 who have the necessary qualifications already.

But unions were worried that staff will either be based in the wrong part of the UK or not have the necessary qualifications for the new positions.

"The cuts HSBC is making will affect the whole business and will mean fewer personal advisers serving more customers and small and medium-sized businesses getting less support when they should be getting more. These cuts are about putting profits before people and will do nothing to improve service or the image of the banking industry," said Hook.

The bank said it would offer 24-week training courses to allow staff to obtain the necessary qualifications.

Brian Robertson, chief executive of HSBC's overall business in the UK, said: "I understand change is always unsettling, particularly for those directly affected. However, I also firmly believe what we are proposing is essential in order for us to fulfil our customers' expectations."