LONDON (AFP) - Insurer Royal and Sun Alliance became the latest high-profile British firm to announce a mass transfer of jobs to India, saying it plans to move 1,100 positions there by 2006, saving the group 10 million pounds annually (14.5 million euros, 18.0 million dollars).
Royal and Sun Alliance, which already employs 100 workers in India, said it would switch call-centre and customer-service work to the city of Bangalore, in southern India.
The second biggest general insurer in Britain said the transfer of jobs would be managed as far as possible through natural turnover and redeployment, but would not rule out compulsory redundancies.
Chief executive Duncan Boyle said: "This move is part of R/SA's existing UK business transformation programme and is expected to deliver annual cost savings in excess of 10 million (pounds).
"We are committed to providing our customers with value for money products and excellent service.
"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," he added.
The announcement by Royal and Sun Alliance comes less than one month after its sector peer Aviva confirmed plans to export 950 more jobs to India and Sri Lanka next year, with a total of 7,000 staff expected to be offshored by the end of 2007.
The insurance giants are joining a rush by British firms taking advantage of the countries low-paid but well-educated and English-speaking workforce.