London : British insurance major Royal & Sun Alliance (RSA) has announced that it would shift as many as 1,100 jobs from Britain to India in the next two years.

The shift is expected to save the company more than 10 million pounds a year. The jobs would cover a range of front and back office functions, including call centre posts.

RSA is the latest firm to move jobs to Asia to take advantage of low wages. Norwich Union, a rival of RSA, plans to move 7,000 jobs overseas by 2007.

RSA's chief executive in Britain, Duncan Boyle, has said the reduction in jobs in the country would be "managed through natural turnover and redeployment."

"We work in a very competitive environment and processing some of our work in India will not only help us control costs but will also give us greater operational flexibility."

RSA has been shedding thousands of jobs as part of a major restructuring intended to refocus on general insurance. The firm has also sold its life business and other assets to strengthen its finances.

Trade unions said RSA's decision meant further bad news for Britain's service sector. "This announcement clearly shows that offshoring presents an unprecedented threat to UK jobs and the economy," said Amicus national secretary David Fleming.

"Over 8,000 job losses have been announced over the last few weeks," he added. Last month, insurer Norwich Union said it was moving 950 call centre jobs to India and Sri Lanka, and that it intended to have 7,000 staff working in India by 2007.

Indo-Asian News Service
Oct 12, 2004