HSBC's decision to move its back-office operations to the mainland will help speed up the trend of job outsourcing by Hong Kong companies, human resources experts said yesterday.
Hong Kong Institute of Human Resource Management spokesman Patrick Maule said the bank should be seen as a catalyst rather than a leader over the shipping out of white-collar jobs to the mainland and overseas.
'It is wrong to say that HSBC is setting the trend in transferring jobs out of Hong Kong to places with skilled labour at lower costs. It is merely joining the trend,' he said.
'However, as HSBC is a very well-known company, the news will encourage the process of discussion on the issue among companies here as Hong Kong managers tend to follow closely what the big boys are doing.'
Mr Maule said the migration of white-collar jobs overseas began seven or eight years ago with the relocation of paging companies' operation centres to Macau and the Philippines. He said such a trend should not be interpreted negatively, even though it would mean job losses.
The Hong Kong Chamber of Small and Medium Business said HSBC was only following the same path taken by small and medium firms in the 1980s.
