IT services company CSC is planning to cut 1,200 jobs from its 10,000-strong UK operation after putting itself up for sale last week.
The move comes a month after the company announced plans to double the size of its operation in India from 5,000 to 10,000 staff by 2007.
The UK job cuts form part of a company-wide move to reduce headcount by 5,000, mainly in Europe.
In August last year, the UK arm of CSC signed an agreement with union Amicus that promised no compulsory redundancies and pledged to invest in the skills of its UK staff.
But Peter Skyte, national officer at Amicus, told Personnel Today’s sister title Computer Weekly the company would not now stand by those guarantees.
“CSC is a highly profitable company making substantial profits from UK staff,” he said. “A highly skilled UK workforce is being pillaged to pump up the share price in advance of a sale of the company.
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“We will hold the company to its obligations to avoid compulsory redundancies and reduce the number of employees to be dismissed in the UK.”
CSC’s UK representatives refused to comment.