Outsourcing Times

Protest Against Lloyds TSB's Offshore Outsourcing

The Times of India reports:

"Shareholders attending Lloyds TSB's annual meeting were greeted by protesters demonstrating against the bank's decision to export 1,500 call centre jobs to India.

"The demonstration, organised by the Lloyds TSB Union, urged shareholders to back their campaign to halt the offshoring.

"The staff union has collected 360,000 signatures in support of its campaign and large numbers of shareholders came forward to add their names."

HR Outsourcing to Asia Pacific on the Rise

From Sify:

"Outsourcing of human resource functions in Asia Pacific grew 17.52 per cent annually between 1999 and 2004 and will touch $2.56 billion by the end of this year, according to a study.

"Hewitt conducted the HR Outsourcing Study in the fall of 2003 and the survey of 524 companies reporting on 697 offices in Asia-Pacific region revealed that 39 per cent of the offices had already outsourced their HR processes.

"Many countries like India, Malaysia, Philippines and Australia are proactive in offering themselves to US and European organisations as outsourcing centres." Read More

Offshore Outsourcing Not to Blame for Lost Jobs

According to SearchCIO.com:

"Statistics show that the backlash in the U.S. over offshore outsourcing isn't really deserved, according to an IT trade organization that claims the positives far outweigh the negatives. But a grass-roots group representing workers feels that American companies are heading offshore for the wrong reasons.

"Jeff Lande, senior vice president at the Arlington, Va.-based Information Technology Association of America (ITAA), told attendees at Gartner Inc.'s Outsourcing Summit that of the roughly 10 million IT workers in the U.S., 372,000 have lost their jobs in the last four years, mostly due to overhiring in the '90s, the dot-com meltdown and the recession." Read more

Siemens Expands Outsourcing With Guardian Life Insurance

From the press release:

"Siemens Business Services, Inc. and Guardian Life Insurance Company of America (Guardian) today announced an agreement that extends their multi-million dollar outsourcing relationship an additional three years, until 2009. Guardian selected a performance-based model for their contract with Siemens Business Services...

"Siemens Business Services' flexible contract delivers an on-demand model that maximizes savings for Guardian's IT Client Support Center, deskside and IMAC support services."

India Inc Defends Outsourcing

From Financial Express:

"Even as the outsourcing backlash continues to occupy centre stage in US electoral politics, India Inc is busy convincing American industry and policy makers of its growing contributions to the US economy.

"'Confederation of Indian Industry (CII) is in constant touch with the US industry and policy makers, working hard to present the entire issue of outsourcing in the correct perspective,' says CII director general (designate) N Srinivasan.

"'Our companies are also adding value to the US economy.'" Read More

IBM Wins £850m Outsourcing Contract with Defra IT

ComputerWeekly reports:

"IBM has beaten Capgemini to the seven-year £850m IT outsourcing contract at the Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, it was announced on Thursday.

"Under the contract, due to go live later this year, IBM will manage and support Defra’s desktop IT infrastructure and business systems and develop a range of new applications.

"Approximately 330 Defra IT staff will transfer to IBM when the contract begins and a detailed consultation process will take place with the trades unions over the coming weeks."

Infosys fears regulatory barriers against BPO

The Hindu reports:

"Software major Infosys Technologies Ltd., has said that the cry against outsourcing by American firms to Indian IT companies has reduced, but is concerned that regulatory barriers could stall moving work offshore.

"'The clamour against outsourcing, while abating to some extent, has the potential to create an unpredictable regulatory response,' Infosys Managing Director and CEO Nandan M Nilekani and COO Kris Gopalakrishnan said in his latest annual report, filed with the United States Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

"The concern in their message to the shareholders comes ahead of the crucial American elections, where the opposition Democratic Presidential candidate John Kerry has decried local firms outsourcing to countries like India to improve their cost and operational efficiency."

SBC, Union Reach Deal That May Curb Outsourcing

From the Lexington Herald-Leader:

"SBC Communications, the nation's second-largest local phone company, agreed to a tentative contract yesterday that guarantees work for its more than 100,000 union employees and could reduce the outsourcing of jobs.

"'This agreement helps ensure that American workers and their communities benefit from the promise of new information technology jobs,' CWA President Morton Bahr said in a statement.

"The tentative contract calls for SBC and the union to work together to bring the technical support jobs back to the United States when the current contract expires in two years." Read More

Opportunities in Asian Fund Outsourcing

From Yahoo:

"A trend toward outsourcing the management of Asian insurance assets is opening up big business opportunities for international fund managers, according to Deutsche Asset Management.

"'The total wallet for my business in Asia ex-Japan is around EUR100 billion and we are just at the tip of the iceberg,' said Choy, referring to the potential size of the market.

"Singapore, Hong Kong, South Korea and Taiwan currently offer the biggest insurance market for fund managers, he said." Read More

Unions Urge Outsourcing Tax

According to Union Network International:

"A tax on offshored jobs to help workers and global union negotiating teams to confront the employers were just two responses to the global mobility revolution to emerge from a key debate at the UNI-Europa Finance meeting in Luxembourg.

"UK finance affiliate UNIFI outlined three globalisation agreements it has already signed with major banks providing early negotiations over outsourcing, measures to find staff new jobs and new skills - and commitments to accept unions in the new offshored operations.

"The International Labour Organisation's John Sendanyoye unveiled a two-year programme to help ensure decent work in both outsourcing and insourcing countries." Read more