Oz banks plan to cut back IT offshoring ops to India

Westpac is evaluating outsourcing vendors for a contract estimated to be anywhere between $200 & 300 million, and demanding that more work be delivered from Australia

 

Top Australian banks Westpac and Commonwealth Bank plan to curb offshoring of back office and IT projects to India in an attempt to address local sentiments over a shrinking economy and rising joblessness. The banks are likely to demand that more projects be delivered onsite.

 

Westpac, which is Australia's biggest bank by market value, is evaluating outsourcing vendors for a contract estimated to be anywhere between $200 & 300 million, and is demanding that more work be delivered from Australia instead of shifting jobs to an offshore delivery centre in India or elsewhere.

 

"Westpac is in discussions with TCS, EDS, IBM, Infosys and Wipro," said a person familiar with the bank's outsourcing decisions. "Westpac chief executive Gail Kelly said few days ago that her bank would stop offshoring of IT jobs until the economic situation improves," he added.

 

The bank's decision against offshoring follows an announcement by Ralph Norris, chief executive of Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), last month that his bank would not send any jobs offshore for three years. CBA did not respond to an email query sent by ET last week.

 

Source: The Economic Times