Bank of Ireland signed an outsourcing deal for HP to take over certain back office responsibilities in 2003 that resulted in many of the bank’s employees transferring to HP. Ironically, the deal, worth $600 million to the US firm, was heavily protested at the time.
Now, three years on, Irish staff are once again in uproar due to reports that HP intends to shift their jobs to eastern Europe and the Asian subcontinent. According to a report from The Times, HP drew up plans in early July to shift the jobs as part of a global cost cutting strategy.
The Times article suggests that a number of technical responsibilities including web and database services are expected to be moved to Sofia in Bulgaria, while management of networks would shift to Bratislava in Slovakia. Meanwhile all help and service desk functions would be moved to Bangalore in India, Finextra has reported.
