By Andy McCue, 4 November 2004 14:48
NEWS The UK will not be turned into a "nation of hairdressers" by outsourcing IT and call centre jobs to low-cost offshore locations such as India, according to the government.
Speaking at an offshoring debate held by the National Outsourcing Association, Malcolm McKinnon, head of the Department of Trade and Industry's Trade in Services unit, denied that those UK staff displaced by offshore outsourcing would end up in manual jobs.
"I do not think we are looking at a doomsday scenario of a nation of hairdressers," he said.
But Trades union representatives on the panel warned that the country faces an IT specialist skills deficit in years to come as more IT work and knowledge is exported overseas.
Lesley Manasseh, deputy general secretary of trade union Connect, said that as more entry-level IT positions are offshored there will be fewer and fewer homegrown specialist and experienced IT people coming through the ranks.
"Where is the training ground for the software engineers so companies don't rely on an ever decreasing pool of specialist workers in the future?" he said.
Peter Skyte, national officer at Amicus, said UK businesses are in danger of engaging in a "race to the bottom" as they move from one offshore location to another looking for more and more cost savings through cheaper labour.
Rory Murphy, assistant general secretary at Amicus, said that while the UK can't compete on labour costs it can compete by exploiting and developing the existing skills of UK workers.
Murphy said unions have to accept offshoring as a fact of business life and work to ensure it is done in the right way and in consultation with staff. But he accused some businesses of involving staff and unions on offshoring decisions too late in the day once it has already been decided.
"Staff are not stupid," he said. "But a lot of companies have just got their heads stuck up their backsides."
Comments
There are 8 comments. Join the discussion
1. JC
I accept many of the arguments in the article. But there's worse to come. Call centres in India are staffed by highly qualified individuals. With big companies like Microsoft building huge hi-tech campuses in India, guess where the highly (over) qualified call centre employess will go!
This is likely to result in under qualified staff being taken on to replace them, with the associated degradation in customer service.
Maybe at that time, the call centres will return to the UK - who knows!
2. Hid S
Why this unprovoked attack on hairdressers?
Let's face it, 99% of IT people spend their time trying to fix stupid problems caused by the IT industry itself.
At least if u are a hairdresser, u really have a chance to please someone.
3. Ed
We know the cost of everything and the value of nothing. It's kind of ironic that our obsession with saving pennies is going to be our undoing as an uneconomy.
Still, at least we'll all have nice hair...
4. Karen Challinor
Is there any way we can offshore our politicians ? they may have a slightly more reasoned response if they are directly affected.
5. anonymous
Businesses don't run on emotions! If businesses find cost savings by offshoring, they will continue to do so. That's why James Dyson moved his manufacturing to Malaysia. We are a country of great innovators. It's time to focus our resources and energies on 'Innovation'
6. Neil Postlethwaite
There are still about 1.5 Million unemployed in this country and probably a similarly large number of Tony Blair's 'scrounger disabled'. Why not invest in these - A PC, Broadband and VoIP headset at home and harness them as a new call centre army? Then the money stays in the UK, and drain in benefits is reduced.
It's not hard to figure this out, if jobs go abroad there will be more unemployed people here.
7. M Lukhman
Why the belief that the only career left will be hairdressing? Last time I checked there is a global shortage of nurses, a figure of 500, 000 was quoted.
With three years of experience, I have now discovered that if I became a nurse (@ grade d) , I'd end up with a higher basic salary and job security.
Guess where I am heading?
8. anonymous
Yes, indeed! The fast-paced business environment is centered around what the customer demands and it needs to saving in order to continue producing and satisfying consumers. Maybe if consumers learn to curb their appetite, then perhaps businesses will slow down the pace and stay put.