London Underground andTransport for London(TfL) are
shedding more than 1,000 back-office jobs, some of which will be IT
jobs.
A consultation has begun on plans to reduce London Underground's
workforce by 1,000, and Transport for London will see "several
hundred" jobs go.
The positions will go from departments such as IT, finance, HR
and legal, and the company hopes it will be able to shed the
positions through recruitment freezes, using fewer contractors, and
voluntary redundancies. "We hope to be able to achieve this without
compulsory redundancies," a spokesman said.
The consultation at London Underground will last three months.
Transport for London is currently carrying out a review into
cutting its workforce. The spokesman said the company expects
"several hundred" posts to go, but said "details will come forward
at a later date."
The company insists the cuts are not related to the recession,
but due to TfL's ten-year
efficiency plan under which it hopes to make £2.6bn worth of
efficiencies.
Frontline jobs at London Underground will not be affected.
TfL said, ""The underlying purpose of the review is to ensure
that we have an organisation fit for purpose and designed to
deliver the massive programme of change and improvement that we
have embarked upon.
"While there are many details to work through we estimate that
there will be a reduction in around 1,000 posts. Our priority is to
seek to avoid redundancies by looking at temporary posts and by not
filling current vacancies."