The flow of British jobs overseas is set to continue, with the UK’s biggest
insurer about to export more than 2,000 posts to India.
Aviva, the parent company of Norwich Union, now expects to offshore around
2,350 jobs to service its UK businesses.
The news comes after a recent CBI survey warned that the HR profession could
soon be hit, with many firms thinking about relocating the function overseas.
At the CBI conference, trade and industry secretary Patricia Hewitt spoke
out against ‘protectionism’ and said the Government would not safeguard UK jobs
because it could harm the global economy.
Bruce Warman, former HR director at Vauxhall, said the Government was right
not to subsidise call centre jobs, but by cutting red tape it could help to
save some call centres.
"A company’s primary responsibility is to stay solvent so it can
survive.," he said.
"We can’t stop jobs going abroad, but we can manage the process
sensitively."
Trade unions have called the move deplorable. The announcement comes the day
after finance union Unifi launched a strike ballot over the closure of the
Lloyds TSB call centre in Newcastle, with the loss of 1,000 jobs.
However, Neil Roden, HR director at the Royal Bank of Scotland, said no jobs
would be outsourced. HBOS has also decided to stay put, saying its UK call
centres are efficient.
By Johann Tasker
