Global banking giant HSBC said Tuesday it would hire thousands of people in emerging markets by 2014 as it looked particularly to Asia's booming financial sector to power future growth. "We are planning to hire up to 15,000 people in emerging markets over the next three years," the bank's Chief Executive Stuart Gulliver told a press briefing in Hong Kong Tuesday.
His comments come a day after the British-based lender announced that it would axe 30,000 jobs by 2013, about 10 percent of its global workforce, as it looked to slash costs. It said the initial round of 5,000 job cuts would be in the United States, Britain, France, Latin America and the Middle East. More than a third of HSBC's current workforce of 300,000 are already in Asia, and the firm said Tuesday its prospects in the region were expected to continue improving. Asia contributed 59 percent of the group's pre-tax profits in the first six months of 2011.