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Barclaycard to Close UK Call Center TMCnet Contributing Editor Barclaycard, the credit card firm that issued the first ever credit card in 1966, has decided to close one of its call centers located in Manchester this July and move some of the work to India. This would mean loss of more than 600 salaried professionals in Manchester.
In a recent announcement, the firm made its intention clear that the work will be moved to two of the largest metros in India - namely Mumbai and Delhi and to Teesside. The restructuring will impact 630 workers, who will be paid their monthly wage by the firm until October this year to help them find other jobs. Amicus, the largest manufacturing union in the United Kingdom with over one million members in the public and private sectors, strongly disapproves of the closure. The union has said this move was “totally inappropriate” for such a profitable firm. Steve Pantak, an official from Amicus, said in a published report, “At a time of increasing pressure on all staff in Barclaycard, we believe it to be totally inappropriate for this large and highly profitable employer to be announcing closures and job losses.” He further expressed his displeasure; “We have made our opposition to these moves very clear to the bank. We are, however, continuing to meet with the bank and do have robust agreements in place, which will help to find alternative jobs for those, affected elsewhere in Barclays.” On being asked whether the union will be able to provide employment to those who have been laid-off, Pantak said, “We believe that with such a large presence in the North West, Barclays should be able to accommodate all those staff who are displaced but wish to remain with them. We will be pushing the bank hard to achieve this outcome.” However, with declining profits, Barclaycard was left with no other choice but to outsource some of its work to developing economies such as India. The firm’s profit fell by 40% to £382 million last year, even though the Barclays group made more than £7 billion. Antony Jenkins, chief executive of Barclaycard, said in a statement, “Decisions like these are never easy and we will be doing everything we can to support those affected. Barclaycard's business is becoming more global and to stay successful we must change how we operate to reflect this. Unfortunately, closing our Peterloo House site in Manchester center is part of that process.” The staff at Manchester was given the ill-fated news on Tuesday, March 6. The firm has offered support to help them find other work. --------- Rahul Prabhakar is a contributing editor for TMCnet. To see more of his articles, please visit his columnist page. |