Insurance company plans to 'offshore' 2,350 jobs

Aviva, the parent company of UK insurance giant Norwich Union, has announced that around 2,350 jobs will be moved from the UK to India next year.

In a statement Aviva said that the "offshore" jobs will service its UK general insurance and life insurance businesses, comprising around 350 call centre posts, and 2,000 'back office' administrative jobs. A further 150 administration roles will support the operation of the company's Canadian general insurance business.

Amicus, one of the main unions concerned, branded the move as "despicable" and pledged to fight for the UK jobs. Unions fear that hundreds of thousands of jobs in the financial support sector are vulnerable to "offshoring" where companies export jobs overseas to exploit cheaper labour and running costs.

In a statement the company said: "Aviva anticipates that approximately 80% of the jobs created in India to support the UK business will be accommodated in the UK by a combination of expansion, current vacancies, anticipated staff turnover and voluntary measures.

"Aviva will aim to accommodate the majority of the remaining roles elsewhere in the company, approximately 500, by redeployment, although it cannot rule out the possibility of compulsory redundancy."

By the end of this year Aviva said that approximately 1,200 staff would be employed in offshore operations in India by the end of this year, increasing to 3,700 staff by the end of 2004.

Some 2,350 jobs will be created in India during 2004 to service Aviva's UK Norwich Union business. Around 350 of these will be in the company's call and claims processing centres in Delhi and Bangalore and will deal principally with motor and household insurance enquiries and claims.

The remaining 2,000 administrative 'back office' jobs will be based in Delhi, Bangalore and Pune and Aviva said that the work will be transferred to these new locations over the course of 2004.

Richard Harvey, Chief Executive of Aviva, said: "We are operating in an increasingly competitive environment. Our customers want value for money products and high levels of service so it is vital that we continually explore opportunities to improve our efficiency while maintaining service levels. Our staff in India are an important part of this process and our experiences to date have been positive."

The company has set aside £1.5 million to provide career advice, retraining and other support to staff affected by these changes to minimise the number of compulsory redundancies arising from these changes.

Aviva currently employs 59,000 staff worldwide, of which around 33,000 are in the UK.

(SP)