Xchanging slashes redundancy package, igniting fears of operation moving to India
Xchanging Global Insurance Solutions (XGIS), formerly RebusIS, has slashed its redundancy package, leading to fears the company could be about to offshore its Lloyd's and London market processing operation.
The company announced to staff it was to withdraw the current redundancy package from the beginning of October, calling it "extremely costly and out of line with prudent employment practice."
An employee who asked not to be named said: "Given the change in the redundancy policy, it is now looking, as many predicted and feared, that the entire operation is to be moved to India with the obvious loss of many UK-based jobs.
"A number of employees from India have been sent to the UK to gain information about the RebusIS systems, with a view to taking some of the work out to India."
XGIS chief executive Bob Gogel denied any wholesale move of operations offshore. He explained the company currently employed around 440 staff in the UK with a further 125 in India.
He said: "Since 2002 we have been ramping up our India operation, but we have not cut the number of jobs in the UK.
"We continue to grow offshore in response to business needs, but have no plans to cut our UK workforce."
Gogel went on to explain that the changes in the redundancy package were just one part of a harmonisation process to bring XGIS policy in line with Xchanging.
