HSBC Bank Middle East has announced that it has fired as many as 80 employees in the UAE because of financial uncertainties worldwide.

The lender has pink-slipped less than two per cent of the entire team of the UAE. Total workforce strength of the bank in the country is about 4,000 people.

The sources said that HSBC laid off the staff a day after competitor UK-based Standard Chartered Bank, or SCB, revealed its proposal to hire 850 priority banking officials across Asia.

SCB also informed that the move would ramp up its priority banking services here in the UAE.

Banks around the globe have slashed jobs amid the worst downturn since the Great Depression of the 1930s.

Banks in the UAE are also facing a challenging environment due to rising provisions as loan defaults are expected to increase.