Barclays to offshore 66 jobs to India

Banking major Barclays has announced plans to offshore 66 jobs from its site in Poole, Dorset, to India, sparking protests by bank employees and worker unions.

The bank said the redundancies were part of 1,100 job losses at Poole announced last year, alongside a decision to farm out some work overseas.

Finance union Unite, however, said that the scope of the job cuts was changing and that the 66 job losses were new.

Unite official Steve Pantak said, "The latest job cuts by Barclays in Poole are very alarming for us. The 66 roles are to be offshored to India. Unite believes that there is now real doubt about the future of Barclays in the Poole area.

"The decision earlier in the year to cancel the new building, coupled with the accelerated winding down of jobs in Barclays House, leads Unite to believe that there is a real threat to the future of all staff in Poole."

Pantak called on the bank to give solid assurances on its "commitment to Poole and the remaining jobs in Barclays House."

Earlier this week, Barclays said that it was cutting more than 100 jobs in Cardiff under plans to outsource work in a department that deals with accounts when a customer dies.

Source: Agencies