Britain's biggest insurer said today it would move about 2,350 British jobs to India in the latest move by the financial services industry to export jobs to low-cost countries.
Aviva said it would shift about 350call-centre jobs and 2,000 in processing, administration and information technology. It added it would consider hiring more people next year in India, where outsourcing has become an engine of export growth.
Aviva, rival insurer Prudential and major banks such as Lloyds TSB Group are hiring in India where they can recruit highly educated workers at a fraction of the cost at home. Britain's biggest bank, HSBC Holdings, said in October it would move 4,000 jobs to low-cost countries.
Aviva said at least 80 per cent of the British job cuts would be made without compulsory redundancies, though it did not rule them out. It is setting aside £1.5 million sterling to give career advice and retraining to staff affected.
Aviva plans to hire a total of about 2,500 workers in India next year, bringing the number of staff there to 3,700, the company said. Aviva employs 59,000 people, including about 33,000 in Britain.