Fujitsu Services’s plans to cut 1,200 jobs in the UK and Ireland have outraged unions, who claim public services including driving licenses, taxes and defence will suffer as a result.
The firm, which provides IT services across public and private sectors, today announced it would cut approximately a tenth of its total workforce. This is despite imposing a pay freeze earlier this year.
The PCS union vowed to campaign against compulsory redundancies and to sustain high-quality public services.
Mark Serwotka, PCS general secretary, said: “This is a huge blow to people who provide support to essential public services, including driving licenses, taxes and defence. We stand to lose not just jobs, but essential expertise in the operation of the IT systems that support services to the British public.
“Services to the hard-working taxpayer are bound to suffer as highly skilled IT professionals are thrown on to the dole queue.”
A Fujitsu spokesman said: “Fujitsu has proposed this measure reluctantly. However, action is necessary to ensure that the company remains competitive in the current difficult global economic climate and is in a solid position for future growth when the economy starts to recover.”
The firm could not say how many employees in the UK would be affected or what types of roles would go. “We are entering into consultation now and we don’t know yet what divisions will be affected,” he added.
