Outsourcing may not be as dreaded a word as redundancy but it can
still generate a tidal wave of panic throughout the office.
"We felt fear, uncertainty and doubt," says Simon, a Notes analyst,
describing the mood when his IT department was told it was up for
sale. "We didn't want to leave our employer and we were concerned
that it would not be as good wherever we were going."
Stories such as Simon's look likely to become more common as
companies look for ways to cut costs in the face of the continuing
economic downturn.
A growing number of businesses have calculated that they can save
significant sums of cash if they hand over their IT infrastructure
to a third party. For the IT staff involved it will always be an
unsettling time.
Fortunately, under the Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of
Employment) Regulations 1981 (Tupe) employees rights are protected.
All terms and conditions in the original employer's contract must
be transferred and where this is not possible the employee must be
compensated financially.
"We were losing our staff canteen and the outsourcing company
couldn't provide one so we were offered cash instead," says
Simon.
"A sum was calculated and it is paid to us monthly over three years
- although this contribution is taxed."
Many staff will still feel unhappy about the enforced change. The
culture, the location and of course the business priorities will be
completely different.
"The downside is that from working for a retail company I am now
employed by a business that is 100% IT-orientated so we have been
more affected by the downturn than my previous company would have
been," says Simon.
Of course, change can also bring new opportunities. Phillip
Russell, managing director of outsourcing consultancy Servusb2b,
believes that a selling point to ITers is that they are moving from
being a support service to a core service within the new company.
This should provide more career opportunities.
According to Russell, fear of the unknown is the biggest cause of
concern among staff. He says the best way to deal with it is to be
positive.
"Most of the people who are going to leave do so shortly after they
have joined the outsourcer," he says. "Some people just don't like
the change, while others really enjoy the challenge."
To date, outsourced IT departments are in a minority but Russell
believes this is set to change. Increasing commercial pressures and
more examples of successful outsourcing projects could be key
drivers.
So, if outsourcing looks like a possibility, look very closely at
your contract and consider the ups as well as the downs.
Unlike many of his colleagues, Simon chose to stick it out and
feels he has done OK out of the transfer. "There have been good and
bad points," he concludes.
Have your say
Has your IT department been outsourced or are you concerned that it
is likely to happen? How has it affected your career prospects?
E-mail cwxtra@rbi.co.uk.