Lloyds Banking Group recently announced it was to cut jobs, a move that will affect 1,150 umbrella company and limited company IT contractors in the UK.
The Group needs to cut its operating costs after its acquisition of HBOS in 2008. Lloyds’ director of group operations, Mark Fisher, said that this move will prove beneficial to the bank in the long run.
By putting these changes in place, the bank will have a world-class IT operation that will bring benefits to customers and other stakeholders, he claimed.
Fisher also pointed out that cutting the use of temps and contract workers will help safeguard the jobs of some permanent PAYE employees. Those people affected by the move will be allowed ample time to find assignments elsewhere. He added that the Group will also work closely with the people affected in order to help them through the change.
Lloyds intends to slash a total of 4,500 jobs, bringing the total number of lay-offs in the Group to 20,000 since the beginning of 2009. 1,750 of the new cuts will affect overseas employees whilst London is set to see 550 contractors and 450 permanent staff disappear. 40 permanent IT jobs are also being axed from a call centre in Belfast. The Group says that the number of permanent job losses in the UK will total 1,600.
When Lloyds took over HBOS during the recession, IT operations were integrated, leading to rationalisation. Lloyds has seen a lot of technology transformation in the last five years and it was inevitable that jobs would be lost as a result, said one analyst. Other banks will no doubt follow suit, he added.
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