HBOS to export 2,000 jobs to India: Report

Mortgage lender HBOS is to outsource thousands of jobs to India starting next year, a media report today said.

"...HBOS is to export thousands of jobs to India....Up to 2,000 IT jobs are expected to go in changes starting next year," UK's The Daily Mirror reported.

In September, Lloyds TSB Group agreed to acquire HBOS for about 12.2 billion pounds, after the mortgage lender's shares lost over half of its value.

Moreover, the tabloid newspaper noted that "outsourcing objectives" drawn up before the Lloyds merger included plans to cut IT costs "with offshore delivery... Central to this vision." Quoting an HBOS spokesman, the report said, "on a preliminary basis, we have been exploring for some time whether we should extend our use of overseas contracts in the area of software development and applications." The Daily Mirror in a report published online said that under the Financial Services Act, any merger talks must be revealed to the market to avoid any suggestion of insider trading or share price manipulation.

The report further said that the bosses flew business class and stayed in Bangalore's five-star Taj West End hotel to attend a series of meetings as they evaluated firms that could take on the IT work.

"... Any arrangement would take place only after full consultation with unions Accord and Unite and be phased over two or three years. But this weeks trip to Bangalore proved the plans are already well underway," The Daily Mirror said quoting the spokesman.

Around 6,000 people are employed in IT at HBOS, around 1,000 in India. The 2,000 jobs expected to go do not include those to be cut in the merger, it added.

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