Hogan Lovells' Hong Kong office has laid off six of its support staff, in an effort to improve the efficiency of its business operations.

The firm would not confirm the names or titles of the staff members affected but in a statement, a spokesperson at the firm said: "The firm has made a total of six staff redundancies in Hong Kong as part of a plan to streamline its business services operations locally."

In 2017, Hogan Lovells announced that about 78 business services roles and 12 legal support positions in London would be cut or moved to Johannesburg or Birmingham.

The most recent layoffs come as the firm announced its plan to double its Australian presence within the next three years.

Earlier this year, Ashurst axed a few jobs in its London-based department dealing with financial management, following a reorganisation of its support function.

Other law firms to have cut jobs in recent years include Ince & Co, which laid off 32 in London, and Pinsent Masons, which cut 78 private assistant roles. Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer also offered voluntary layoffs to its London secretarial workforce.

John Kang and Anna Zhang contributed to this story from Hong Kong.