HK's financial, property firms forced to cut staff

HONG KONG: Financial and property firms in Hong Kong have started laying off staff as they feel the full force the global financial crisis, newspapers reported on Friday.

US investment bank Goldman Sachs has cut 10 per cent of its team, or about 100 staff, the South China Post quoted a source as saying.

The bank Goldman Sachs would not offer salary cuts as an option to layoffs, a source close to the company said.

The group had in October revealed plans to slash a tenth of its global workforce of 32,500.

Swiss banking giant Credit Suisse has sacked at least 10 equity analysts and sales people last week, according to the Post.

Ricacorp Properties, one of the largest estate agents in the southern Chinese city, said it had cut 400 employees, or about 30 per cent of its workforce, since June. It has also closed 40 of its 120 branches over the same period, although a spokeswoman said many of them were only temporarily.

"Some of the landlords of these offices have offered to lower the rent in view of the difficulties we are facing. We will closely monitor the property market in the next few months to see if there is a chance to re-open some of them," she said.

Analysts said they also expect to see rounds of massive layoffs in the catering and retailing industries as the new year nears, when companies will be forced to downsize or go bust as they fail to clear debts.