British high street bank HSBC was accused of putting "profit before people" today over plans to cut 4,000 jobs in Britain over the next three years and move them to Asia.
Service centres in Birmingham, Brentwood, Sheffield and Swansea will be closed by the end of 2005 as part of the "global resourcing" plans, a companyspokesman said.
The jobs - mainly processing and call centre roles - will gradually be moved to centres in India, Malaysia and China starting from next January.
All 4,000 staff affected were told of the decision yesterday, the spokesman said.
Compulsory redundancies could not be ruled out but would be kept to a minimum, he added.
HSBC chief executive Bill Dalton said the job cuts were "essential" for thebank's continued success.
The announcement comes just three months after the bank said it would cut 1,400 jobs in the Britain, blaming tough economic conditions.