Following in the footsteps of HSBC, insurance giant Norwich Union has decided to export 2,350 British jobs to India. 170 of these jobs will be from Sheffield.

BBC Report: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/3255606.stm

Those who have insurance policies with Norwich Union may wish to cancel them and take their business elsewhere. How else will we stop these companies taking our jobs overseas?

I'm one of those who could potentially be made redundant by Norwich Union's attempt to "remain competative" (the company is worth £10 billion, how competative do you need to be?). To say that the news was only made public this morning, we've already had one customer cancel his policy because of it.

I wouldn't mind too much if they were going to give the Indians jobs with similar pay and conditions to those which we enjoy, but that won't happen. The average call centre rep here earns about £10-12,000, but the Indian workers will get only £1250 per year. I can't see the level of customer service improving either. Imagine waiting for your insurance cheque to be processed and sent from the other side of the world, or having to send your original birth or marriage certificate there so that they can update your details. I'm sure that the Indian people are highly competent, motivated workers, but that isn't why Norwich Union are setting up shop over there. It's all about greed.

What with HSBC shipping its call centre out of Sheffield, I'm a little worried about what we admin workers have got left to look forward to in Sheffield. Is it too late to re-open the pits?;)

My good friend works for the Claims Dept in Norwich union direct sheffield and they are being made redundant.

I tell ya, it makes me sick!

Obviously the profitsc they're making aren't enough.

This is far more serious than 170 being lost...

Local business such as bars and sandwich shops who rely on lunch time trade suffers and this cause Job losses too.

As for waiting for your insurance cheque to be processed and sent from the other side of the world will not happen. A computer in UK will print and issue them as it cheaper to post in UK.

As for ID, some work experience guy in some back office in UK will do - you just need them to tick the box on the computer screen which is the confirmation needed to activate the account in India when the ID is verified.

Dave

Greed is a double-edged sword (bad metaphor I know). Most of us try to pay as little as possible for the material things we buy, whether it's a computer, a pair of slacks or canteen of cutlery. The most affordable examples are generally made abroad in some Asian sweatshop, but that doesn't deter us from buying them even though the jobs we used to have in manufacturing these things in the UK have all disappeared.

I can understand the dismay of people working in the 'service industries' seeing their jobs follow those of manufacturing, but unfortunately our standard of living is largely supported by cheap labour..which is no longer available in UK.

In the distant past we used to import a huge amount of hand made cloth from India, but then the tycoons of the day found it could be produced more cheaply in the cotton mills they built in Lancahshire and Yorkshire and thousands of Indians found themselves out of work and facing starvation. Looks like we've come full circle - but I don't think any Norwich Union workers will actually starve to death as a result.

Nobody's going to starve to death, but that's besides the point. There are a lot of FS jobs in Sheffield, and if all major companies start moving the jobs then there's going to be economic problems in the city. All the people I work with are decent, hardworking folk, and I'd hate to see any of them turfed out of their jobs. The prospect of having to compete with them for an ever decreasing number of admin jobs doesn't exactly thrill me either.

Being a bit of an armchair leftie, I don't have any problem with decent jobs and money being redistributed to poorer parts of the world, places where they are really needed. But the money isn't being redistributed, its going into the hands of an already sickeningly rich clique, while somebody in India ends up doing my job for a sixth of what I was paid.

I certainly don't begrudge the Indian people getting the services jobs, best of luck to them. I'm also sure that those in Sheffield who are made redundant will find employment elsewhere eventually. What I am complaining about is the bare faced cheek, unparallelled arrogance and shamless greed exhibited by companies like HSBC and NU. Of course they have to make a profit. However, they also have a social responsibility to the welfare of workers and communities in both Sheffield and India, a responsibility that appears to have been ignored in the rush to throw a few more pounds into their already monsterously bloated bank accounts.

Most of of the call staff over there are probably more polite, and have not spent the afternoon getting [edited] on eccy rd. (you know who you are)

Sounds like you've never worked in a call centre billyblade, and I wouldn't criticise them until you've experienced what they go through. You try explaining the finer points of insurance/pensions/whatever to an irrate foul mouthed moron who cannot accept that what he says is wrong when you've been improperly trained, you're tired and you've being dealing with a dozen similar tin-pot Hitlers all day. I've never worked in the call centre but they have my sympathy and support.:mad:

Mate does work in there (for now anyway) so he tells me what its like .was being sarky

You're right about us all gettin ****** on eccy road though!:D

Cant reply as Im barred,
Nice lookin women on Eccy Road though egh:D

If I gave any custom to the companies who are making British people redundant purely on the basis of greed then they would not be getting my custom any longer.

I think it's particularly worrying in Sheffield and South Yorkshire has a whole because a high percentage of jobs in our area are in call centres. I mean what else is there? A job in the steel works isn't guaranteed as it used to be and the pits were taken away from us.

I'm very worried about it. I don't work in a call centre myself but I know many people who do who have mortgages and families etc...

If a company is making billions in profit how much more do the greedy >insert your own word here< want???

Companies have to keep their share holders and employees who will be getting pensions by cutting their costs. This is one such move. Cheap labour will allow more profits which will lead to happier share holders and better pensions.

I've worked in Call Centres and they are nasty places. The jobs Brits don't like doing always get outsourced or we get others to do them like asylum seekers

I think as a sign of protest everyone who is insured with NU should move their policies to another 'british based' insurance company as soon as there policy expires.
no point doing it before as you lose your NCD :P

I hear from my mate who's 'currently' in NU claims Sheffield that India already has a claims dept setup and in place for NU.

A customer called up to complain that her Freezer had broken down and it had a 7lb joint of beef that had defrosted when it broke down.

The indian NU claims rep replies ''you cannot claim for money stored in your freezer''.:confused:

I can see there will be lots of problems with this outsourcing.

Lets boycott those money grabbing big wigs!

Originally posted by DaBouncer
[
Lets boycott those money grabbing big wigs! [/B]

I agree DB but as time goes on I think that all the big companies will follow suit. I am with the Pru and they announced a similar measure earlier this year.

I am sorry but when I speak to somebody about my policy I at least expect them to be able to understand what I say and I should be able to understand them - not racist just common sense.

Why is it that I don't read of any US companies following suit and relocating all of there customer service departments to developing countries? I maybe wrong admittedly as they may do.

I find it an increasingly worrying trend that the biggest single sector (service industry) has decided that its about time that they shifted. It just sounds a little too similar to the steel relocations that hit Sheffield in 60's, 70's and 80's, and we all know what that did around this place.

Surely the government can do something about this, and if not, do there damnedest to get overseas companies to invest in the UK markets, and replenish the thousands of lost jobs that will eventually be lost.

Originally posted by Funky Dave
that won't happen. The average call centre rep here earns about £10-12,000, but the Indian workers will get only £1250 per year.

My question is, what kind of life will you be able to lead with that wage in India?

Sorry, the Indians would earn £1750, not £1250.

A lot of India is poverty stricken. The poorest farmers in parts of Rajastan for example only earn £200-£300 a year. About the price of a couple of pairs of jeans from some shops in Meadowhall. And service jobs such as call centre reps are seen as highly aspirational occupations that attract many graduates.

We don't know how lucky we are in this country.

Originally posted by jayjay03
Why is it that I don't read of any US companies following suit and relocating all of there customer service departments to developing countries? I maybe wrong admittedly as they may do. IBM is now largely a back office organisation and has been taking on these functions for other corp's. They have been moving these jobs to India for at least 5 years now, and I am sure that they are not alone.

Originally posted by jayjay03
Surely the government can do something about this, and if not, do there damnedest to get overseas companies to invest in the UK markets, and replenish the thousands of lost jobs that will eventually be lost. It's got nothing to do with the government in a free economy. Are you asking other nations to invest in the UK at the expense of their own countryfolk ???

My daughter is one of those to go at NU.
My policy (no pun intended) is simple - any company that has outsourced its jobs abroad will not get my business. In future everytime I speak to someone on the phone I shall ask where they are based, if not in the UK then I shall hang up and seek another supplier who is. If everybody took this action then we will find the jobs will be returned here pretty damn smartish.
We saw our steel jobs go overseas, then the rest of our manufacturing industry let's not sit back and let the rest of our jobs go the same way.

Originally posted by Funky Dave
Sorry, the Indians would earn £1750, not £1250.

A lot of India is poverty stricken. The poorest farmers in parts of Rajastan for example only earn £200-£300 a year. About the price of a couple of pairs of jeans from some shops in Meadowhall. And service jobs such as call centre reps are seen as highly aspirational occupations that attract many graduates.



This was my point. I saw a documentry that stated someone earning this kind of money was able to live a middle class life in India. Do the same job here and you are below the poverty line.

Britain's biggest call centre chain - Capita are looking to expand in the UK and in particular in Sheffield. The surplus lost to the Sub continents will be collected up by them when the move comes off..

Call Centres - the Heavy Industry of the 21st Century

Originally posted by jayjay03
Why is it that I don't read of any US companies following suit and relocating all of there customer service departments to developing countries? I maybe wrong admittedly as they may do.

Reviving an old thread but I found this image today - an amusing confirmation that the Americans do have the same issue http://www.despair.com/discovery.html

Originally posted by jayjay03
I find it an increasingly worrying trend that the biggest single sector (service industry) has decided that its about time that they shifted. It just sounds a little too similar to the steel relocations that hit Sheffield in 60's, 70's and 80's, and we all know what that did around this place.

I invite you to visit your cutlery draw and see what percentage is stamped "Made in Sheffield" - if you believe we should resist export of jobs then you have a responsibility to buy local. So how many of us sit here in the home for 400 years of manufacture of the finest cutlery and buy from Korea, Japan or whoever else is currently cheapest. I know there are tales of some "Made in Sheffield" cutlery being cheap imports - but there certainly are still manufacturers who MAKE the cutlery here http://www.osbornesilversmiths.co.uk/aboutus.html