LogicaCMG is to move a key part of its mobile payment
business to an Indian office in a bid to cut costs.Around 90 UK jobs will go when the IT services
giant pushes ahead with plans to relocate software development for
its Bristol-based mobile payments unit to an existing office in
Bangalore. About 135 UK staff will remain in the Bristol unit.
A spokesman for LogicaCMG said the decision
was driven by the need to cut costs across the business and by
difficult trading conditions in the mobile payment market.
The move by LogicaCMG, Europe's third largest
IT services business, highlights the trend for companies to
outsource or relocate IT services offshore to capitalise on cheap
and highly skilled labour.
However, union leaders have raised concerns
over the impact of offshore development on the UK workforce and
warned that companies could face strike action over their
plans.
The European market for offshore outsourcing
will grow by more than 40% in 2003, according to analyst firm
Gartner.
LogicaCMG will consult with staff for three
months over the Indian relocation plan, which has been announced
internally.
In March LogicaCMG, formed by the merger last
December between IT services firms Logica and CMG, predicted that
it would have to cut 2,000 jobs globally by the end of 2003.