Our inclusion strategy
For over 160 years, HSBC’s core strategy has been to serve and connect people and businesses across different geographies and cultures.
We’re focussing on continuing to deliver fair outcomes for all colleagues and on building a workforce that reflects the communities we serve, in order to deliver better outcomes for our customers.
We hold ourselves accountable by being transparent with our progress and with our inclusion index, which measures colleagues’ feelings of belonging, psychological safety, perception of fairness and trust, in our annual all-employee engagement survey.*
Our four priorities
We have made progress, but we know we still have more to do. Our four priorities are focused on building an inclusive workplace for all colleagues:
1. Fair and Inclusive recruiting
We’re focused on ensuring our hiring processes are fair, transparent and inclusive for all, so that every candidate, regardless of their identity or background, has an equal opportunity to demonstrate their skill and potential.
2. Fair progression of talent
We’re focused on ensuring all colleagues have access to development opportunities to achieve their potential, allowing us to benefit from their diverse experiences and perspectives.
3. Building an inclusive culture
We’re focused on ensuring we have an inclusive environment where different perspectives are valued, and colleagues want to stay and develop their careers.
4. Supporting an inclusive society
We’re focused on ensuring we provide an accessible and inclusive banking experience and working within our communities to create positive impact.
Our actions
- To support colleagues joining the organisation from lower socio-economic backgrounds, we launched a grant initiative in 2025, offering new joiners £1,000 to support pre-joining expenses.
- In the US, we partnered with organisations Handshake and HelloHive to broaden our reach to undergraduate students from all backgrounds. Community engagement opportunities to support career readiness have in turn resulted in expanded candidate applications to the HSBC US Early Careers programs.
- In 2025, we partnered with KPMG to support personal development opportunities for UK-based Black heritage colleagues in our IWPB and Global Functions teams. 15 individuals were matched with sponsors aligned to their career aspirations, who aim to broaden participants’ networks and advocate for their talent and career progression.
- Our partnership with 100 Women in Finance focuses on parts of the financial services sector in which women are particularly under-represented at senior levels.
- In 2025, we launched a vodcast to reinforce the importance of inclusive leadership. The series uncovers how inclusion fuels better customer outcomes through stronger teams, deeper community connections, and a culture that drives innovation and performance.
- In 2025 we led the way in benchmarking disability confidence across our Asia markets, aligning with United Nations Guidelines for People with Disabilities. Completion of the self-assessment tool has facilitated the creation of action plans that continue to drive our disability inclusion efforts.
- In the US, we have been recognised as a “Best Place to Work for Disability Inclusion” in the 2025 Disability Index.
- In 2025, we improved our position in the UK Social Mobility Index to 18th, improving from 37th in 2024 and 67th in 2023.
- In 2025, our Digital Accessibility programme garnered 15 awards, including accolades from the Hong Kong Digital Accessibility Recognition Scheme for the accessibility of our digital channels. Additionally, we were honoured at the Pay 360 Awards in the UK, which celebrates outstanding achievements in the payments industry.
- We launched the Financial health resource for carers in the UK and in Hong Kong, providing resources to support the financial wellbeing of carers and the people that they care for.
- We’ve continued to support female-owned businesses through HSBC UK’s £250m Women’s Business Growth Initiative (opens in new window) (opens in new window) and our Mujeres al Mundo (opens in new window) (opens in new window) programme in Mexico.
*As a global organisation we have a principles-based Group approach to inclusion. Application of these principles is not applicable in jurisdictions in which they would be contrary to local law.
Global representation data
We’re creating an accurate and transparent view of our workforce so we can effectively target our actions and measure our progress.