The British bank Abbey National announced plans Wednesday to transfer 400 call-centre jobs to India, joining a rush of firms looking to take advantage of the subcontinent's low-paid but well-educated workforce.
Abbey will shut three sites in northern England - in Warrington, Derby and Bradford - handling customers' account enquiries, and shift the activities to India by the end of October 2004, the group said on its website.
As part of an ongoing review of its operations, the bank also plans to close its Edinburgh offices by the end of this year and move about 900 jobs to Glasgow.
"We have taken some tough business decisions today that are absolutely necessary to the health of Abbeys future and for giving our customers better service at a competitive price," chief executive Luqman Arnold said.
"We recognise that this will not be welcome news to the people affected, but we have also been able to take away uncertainty for others, and give reassurance that we are investing in our key locations."
Abbey is just the latest in a growing list of British companies transferring posts to the subcontinent.
British trade unions warned last year that up to 200,000 jobs could be lost as companies shifted operations, principally telephone call centres, to India.
Indian university graduates, whose often impeccable English is a legacy of Britain's long imperial rule over the subcontinent, can be employed in call centres for around a fifth of the wages given to their English counterparts.
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