Jul. 29 – The British Council has announced that it would outsource 100 IT and finance jobs to New Delhi and other parts of India in an effort to streamline costs.
The British Council will cut its staff by 500 in the coming months to save £45 million of taxpayer’s money. The announcement has created a furor within the government and union groups.
The civil servant group, the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS), panned the decision saying it was against Brown’s principle of “British jobs for British people,” reports Indian business publication, Live Mint.
PCS spokesman, Dave Cliff, told The Times: “We think it is an absolute disgrace. The British Council is an educational and cultural organization to support British culture, but a big part of this organization is now going to be based abroad.”
An estimated 280 of the council’s 500 permanent back-office jobs will also be cut and the rest will be given to agency, part-time or contract staff. Another government agency, the Foreign and Commonwealth Office, is looking for similar ways to cut costs.
