Hundreds of IT staff at Direct Line could lose their jobs
if the insurance group presses ahead with plans to relocate a
significant proportion of its IT operations to parent company Royal
Bank of Scotland, banking union Unifi has warned.
Direct Line said the planned relocation is an attempt to keep up
with its expanding business. A spokeswoman for the company said
some IT staff would be able to transfer to the new IT operations
centre in the Royal Bank of Scotland but confirmed that there would
be job losses. The company has set up an employee consultation
board, she added.
Unifi said up to 200 IT jobs, mainly in IT services, may go under
the proposed move. The union also accused Direct Line of ignoring
the wishes of staff during the consultation process.
"Direct Line does not recognise the union even though we have a lot
of members in the Croydon office," said Rob MacGregor, national
secretary of Unifi. "We are urging members not to co-operate with
the consultative body."
MacGregor also claimed that Direct Line had not properly explained
to staff the reasons for relocating IT operations.
"If we migrate our technology platform to RBS, there might be
opportunities for staff to transfer or retrain. If that is
unrealistic and a reason for that is presented, we will all accept
it," he said.
When it was launched in 1985, Direct Line shook up the insurance
world by selling directly to customers over the phone. In 2000, it
launched an internet-based insurance service. It now has more than
five million customers and it has expanded into Germany, Italy,
Japan and Spain.