May 27th, 2016

Following the announcement in Reading on 26th May which saw 82 Prudential employees in the Reading Annuities area put at risk of redundancy Unite Finance Sector have issued a press release.

The proposals which are subject to consultation will see some work moving to Craigforth, some remaining in Reading but the vast majority moving to Mumbai.

The press release says:-

Prudential, the life insurance and financial services giant, has announced plans to offshore up to 80 UK jobs from Reading to Mumbai, India, said Unite, the trade union for UK finance workers.

81 workers in the Individual Annuities division, which handles servicing and bereavements, have been told that their jobs are to be moved out of Reading. While a minority of these roles will transfer to Prudential’s site in Craigforth, Scotland the vast majority will be offshored to India.

Following this news Unite will begin a 45 day consultation period with the employer. Throughout this process the union will reiterate its total opposition to offshoring, which is used by multinational finance firms to drive down the wages, terms and conditions of the workforce.

Pending the results of the consultation, the company anticipate that offshoring could begin as early as October 2016.

The job cuts in Reading are the latest wave of insurance sector job losses to impact areas surrounding London. In Surrey both Legal & General and Diligenta have announced plans to either close operations or cut jobs, as companies chase short-term savings by transferring work away from the London commuter belt.

Dominic Hook, Unite National Officer for Finance, said:

“Prudential knows full well that offshoring is a toxic issue. That’s why transferring a handful of public-facing jobs to Scotland will be used as a smoke screen to hide the fact that the majority of this highly technical and skilled work will go offshore.

Behind the buzzwords used to justify the decision is the fact that Prudential want to pay someone in Mumbai far less to do the same work. Offshoring is cynical, exploitative and ultimately it will be the firm’s customers who will pay the price.

“Unite will stand with our members in Reading and as we prepare to enter consultation we warn Prudential that nothing is off then table when it comes to defending our members.”

Posted in Project Jupiter, Pru Section news | Comments Off on Unite Reaction to Reading Annuities Announcement

Comments