The restructuring events database contains factsheets with data on large-scale restructuring events reported in the principal national media and company websites in each EU Member State. This database was created in 2002.
Financial Services Financial And Insurance Activities Financial Service Activities, Except Insurance And Pension Funding 64 - Financial service activities, except insurance and pension funding
New offshoring locations
250 - 1,000 jobs Number of planned job losses
Announcement Date
6 January 2004
Employment effect (start)
Foreseen end date
Description
After rumours of Barclays outsourcing 1,000 call centre jobs to India in December 2003, a deal has been reached with unions (Unifi). 500 jobs have been created in India, affecting 250 roles in the UK, resulting in 40 dismissals and 210 employees being redeployed. The deal includes : £2,000 of free career retraining for employees whose jobs are sent offshore, voluntary severance to staff working within 55 miles of an operation being offshored (the bank is to avoid compulsory job cuts if possible), six months full pay for staff whose jobs are to be outsourced, a five-man human resources redeployment team to organise voluntary redundancies costing £250,000 a year. Unions hope this deal could be inspirational to other UK banks who have recently announced major job losses due to outsourcing (HSBC, Lloyds TSB).
Sources
6 January 2004: The Guardian
10 January 2004: The Guardian
20 December 2003: The Guardian
Citation
Eurofound (2004), Barclays, Offshoring/Delocalisation in United Kingdom, factsheet number 59287, European Restructuring Monitor. Dublin, https://restructuringeventsprod.azurewebsites.net/restructuring-events/detail/59287.
Digitisation and automation technologies, including artificial intelligence (AI), can affect working conditions in a variety of ways and their use in the workplace raises a host of new ethical concerns.
The retail banking sector is fertile ground for studying the impacts of digitalisation on work and employment. Financial services are increasingly provided online, without the intermediary of customer-facing institutions.
European labour markets have recovered strongly from COVID-19. By the end of 2021, little more than 18 months after the start of the pandemic, employment rates in the EU were almost at pre-crisis levels.
