HSBC Holdings Plc joins the ranks of other big-name firms that are cracking under a global economic pressure, affecting some 10,000 employees of the banking giant who may end up jobless anytime soon.

The planned terminations is "to reduce costs" across major operations of the multinational investment company as temporary top CEO Noel Quinn carries out a long-standing plan to streamline the whole business, the Financial Times, citing sources with knowledge of the matter, reported.

The restructuring -  in addition to the 4,700 redundant positions made public earlier - will primarily focus on personnel in high-paying capacities details of which will be disclosed when the bank reports its earnings for the third quarter by end of October, the newspaper reported.

HSBC Holdings, one of many major European lending entities embarking on a massive layoff, is questioning why it has this much workforce in the region when it has strong profits in key parts in Asia, sources told FT.

The banking group's most recent layoffs were disclosed two months ago, on the same month that HSBC big boss John Flint suddenly left his post after 18 months as chief executive officer.

As of June this year, HSBC, which cited the rigors of increasingly complicated banking landscape, has around 238,000 staff when it separated with Flint, based on its interim report.

Quinn was picked as chief executive officer in a temporary capacity last August after HSBC announced Flint's surprise resignation, saying the company needed a transformation to deal with a "complex global environment."

Flint's sudden departure was due to a deepening animosity with HSBC chairman Mark Tucker regarding issues on budgeting and operational cost reductions, a source with information with the matter divulged to Reuters.

HSBC was struggling with falling stocks and poor sales target performance that was made worse by a sexual harassment lawsuit during Flint's tenure as chief executive officer.

The planned layoffs was reported after HSBC announced its August retrenchment and posted a dreary business forecast in the midst of an easing in financial policies, the Hong Kong riots, Brexit noise, and the trade debacle between the US and China.

HSBC disclosed in September that it will move forward with plans to employ over 600 more staff to augment its business portfolio in Asia by the final quarter of 2022.