The bank will also maintain a freeze on almost all external recruitment, Chief Executive Noel Quinn said in the memo, which was sent to HSBC’s 235,000 staff worldwide.

“We could not pause the job losses indefinitely — it was always a question of ‘not if, but when’,” Quinn said, adding that the measures first announced by HSBC in February were “even more necessary today”.

A bank spokeswoman confirmed the contents of the memo.

HSBC had postponed the job cuts, part of a wider restructuring to cut US$4.5 billion in costs, in March saying the extraordinary circumstances of the coronavirus pandemic meant it would be wrong to push staff out.

Quinn said it now has to resume the programme as profits fall and economic forecasts point to a challenging time ahead, adding that he had asked senior executives to look at ways to cut more costs in the second half of the year.