Pros
Strong track record, one of the few financial institutions that weathered recent storms relatively unscathed It's a large organisation and there are lots of opportunities: some staff seem to do very well in terms of promotions / responsiblities etc They're generally well-organised "My choice" reward package gives you some good choices of non-cash benefits as part of your remuneration package e.g. BUPA healthcare for you & your family. Good training programmes. Most colleagues are decent people, some departments have a good social life.
Cons
Wages are deliberately set at 10% below the market median. Frequent restructuring and re-orientation of goals etc means there is a lack of continuity - 100s of man hours invested in projects & initiatives, then one day your boss says "we're not doing that anymore". Inefficient and frustrating. Excessive red tape and a "can't do" attitude amongst middle management. A big vote up here for the brainwashing. Every day you're told HSBC is "The Best Place to Work" - this slogan is plastered across foyers in letters 6 foot high. And for years I believed it... TBH I started to believe there must be something wrong with me, always missed out on promotions, getting poor reviews, very undervalued. Back at School, Uni and everywhere else I've worked I was always a high achiever, yet at HSBC I always felt like a ne'er do well. Why? Because line managers generally don't like people with ideas and initiative, they want Stepford Wives. [BTW, HSBC is not "The Best Place to Work". Back in the days when *all* staff completed the staff survey, we used to score 55%-60% staff satisfaction. There are 100's of companies in the country with staff satisfaction ratings >90%.] Bullying is rife. Too many managers throwing their weight around. Over 12 years I had 9 different line managers, I made complaints against 3. Not only were my complaints not investigated, HR told me I would be placed on a disciplinary for gross misconduct if I didn't retract a formal grievance. In case you're thinking I'm the over-sensitive whiny type, one complaint was i.r.o. a physical assault, witnessed by numerous colleagues. Nothing was done about it, no-one would back me up. People didn't want to "get involved". My opinion is that HSBC's anti-bullying policy is there for show, like a lot of their other policies. e.g. I also suffered RSI whilst working at HSBC, they took 3 months to undertake a workstation assessment and refused to provide me with an ergonomic mouse - I had to buy my own. Morale is low, so many staff I've seen in tears, even threatening suicide because they hate their jobs so much. Poor communication & secrecy at every level of management. e.g. Time and time again staff have found out from BBC news that HSBC is making 1000 UK staff redundant, but there is zero internal communication about it. Staff are left to worry and speculate, whispering in corners. Regarding IT systems - yes a lot are fairly stone-age. HSBC overall tend to "play it safe", which is one of the reasons they didn't fall into the money market sinkhole back in 2007/2008, but it also means they choose to avoid being at "the leading edge" of anything, because the leading edge is often the bleeding edge. Also ofc new things cost money: if you've not worked for a financial institution, please understand that everything is about money. And it seems nothing else matters.