NEWS Barclays Bank has said up to 140 jobs will be affected as it moves its internal UK helpdesk to India.
The bank will try to re-deploy workers before offering them redundancy packages when the technical support centre is transplanted from Cheshire to Mumbai.
Hilary McVitty, head of PR for Barclays, said: "It's premature to say that it will result in 140 job losses. We have been involved in selective outsourcing, which isn't always offshore. In this case it is."
The helpdesk service, dubbed Servicepoint, will be moved in October to Indian company Intelenet, of which Barclays owns a 50 per cent share.
McVitty said: "We do have a very hands-on approach. We've been very upfront in saying that offshore outsourcing is a way of improving efficiency in business."
Technology workers' union Amicus has been monitoring the bank's 1,000 planned redundancies since last year.
An Amicus spokeswoman said: "Obviously we don't welcome jobs going abroad. We are following very closely what is happening. But we do have a globalisation agreement with Barclays that requires them to maximise re-deployment and offer the best voluntary redundancy packages... and avoid compulsory redundancy."
Dutch bank ING has also announced it is "streamlining" its processes by axing 450 jobs in Europe.
Four hundred jobs in the Netherlands have been culled and 50 positions in Belgium will be eliminated to "preserve its competitive position".
In a statement, the Benelux bank said it will see annual cost reductions of €39m, while the one-off severance payments will cost €57m. The IT division employs approximately 18,000 staff.
The bank said it would try to support staff in the Netherlands 'from job to job' on the basis of a new collective labour agreement, and added it is examining the possibility of outsourcing work to another company.
Comments
There are 9 comments. Join the discussion
1. anonymous too
So, they are going to outsource to India in an effort to-
a. Give the managers an excuse for more exense paid travel?
b. Find some really great curry houses?
c. Save money by letting cheaper workers do the support work, and getting rid of the UK support team?
They will outsource the support service and keep the original staff? That doesn't make any business sense at all.... can anyone smell that?
2. annon
I am an IT professional with years of call centre experience and also a Barclays customer. I have just made a formal complaint to Barclays about their call centres and now I find that they are beginning the migration to off-shore which in my experience is even more inefficient. I would rather pay a bit more for an effective and efficient service. Please please Barclays think this through carefully, I have been a customer for over 30 years and I would like to think I will be for years to come, but I would move if the service I recieved deteriorated, which I believe is currently happening.
3. Glynn Howell-Jackson
It's a disgrace, Barclays, HSBC, the whole lot of them annually announce year on year huge profit increases. The majority of their profitable business comes out of the West, but what rewards do we get for all of the years loyalty with these banks.
I reckon there's a huge opportunity for a bank to market itself as loyal to the place of it's origin and profit centres. They'd get my vote and my business. I cant wait to dump HSBC as my business account managers. I'm just scratching my head as to where to go.
4. Matt Brunton
Glynn, get yourself an account with Nationwide. They have repeatedly stated that they will not move their call centre operations out of the UK - in fact a January press release announced expansion in the UK: http://www.nationwide.co.uk/mediacentre/PressRelease_last.asp?ID=507
5. Glynn Howell-Jackson
Matt, Thanks for that. Sadly there is no local Jersey Branch, at least not in the telephone directory. I'll dig around a bit!!!
6. anonymous
I just spent 45 premium minutes listening to one of these workers in India talking about what sort of day he had, what job do I do, blah blah blah....then told me he couldn't help me and I would have to fill in paperwork! I believe in good customer service but come on, listen to me, help me then onto the next call.... I expect not only has money gone out of my account without my say so I now have to pay an excessive phone bill to find out that can't tell me how, why or who allowed it..... I feel a bank change coming on.
7. maven58
Couldn't agree more with previous comments. I'm really irked that Barclays have bought the Woolwich and now inflicting their venal cost-cutting practices on their customers - including myself. Have just spent an hour on the phone being passed from one Mumbai call centre operator in Accounts to another Mumbai call centre operator in Mortgages - neither of whom were able to understand, let alone answer - my very straightforward question. Rubbish!!
8. Danielle Louise Hall
I applied for the Professional and Career development loan to help me with my Masters degree, and was rudely spoken to by the Indian call centre staff. Not only were my queries left unanswered because the staff did not fully understand what I was saying, but the staff also put the phone down on myself and my mum's partner when asking a question regarding my driving licence. Therefore, I do not believe that Barclays have made the best decision in this case. What customers want is a reliable and coherent customer service. If the staff do not understand the customer, then the customer should at least be re-directed to somebody who can deal with their queries promptly and efficiently.
9. Danielle Louise Hall
I applied for the Professional and Career development loan to help me with my Masters degree, and was rudely spoken to by the Indian call centre staff. Not only were my queries left unanswered because the staff did not fully understand what I was saying, but the staff also put the phone down on myself and my mum's partner when asking a question regarding my driving licence. Therefore, I do not believe that Barclays have made the best decision in this case. What customers want is a reliable and coherent customer service. If the staff do not understand the customer, then the customer should at least be re-directed to somebody who can deal with their queries promptly and efficiently.