Anglian Water to outsource admin to India

ONE of Huntingdonshire s major employers is to outsource administration work overseas in a bid to cut costs. Anglian Water, which has its headquarters in Huntingdon, is outsourcing some of its back-office work to India. Staff that had been carrying out th

ONE of Huntingdonshire's major employers is to outsource administration work overseas in a bid to cut costs.

Anglian Water, which has its headquarters in Huntingdon, is outsourcing some of its back-office work to India.

Staff that had been carrying out the work at the company's offices in Gibson House, Ermine Business Park, have been told they will take on call-centre roles, manning customer enquiries.

An Anglian Water spokesman said no job cuts would be taking place and customer calls would not be dealt with in Indian.

She said the move was part of the firm's plan to reduce customer bills by �28 over the next five years and ensure job security during a time of economic uncertainty.

"This is part of our efforts to ensure customer calls stay in the region and provide job security for our staff," she said. "In these difficult economic times companies need to be flexible. It does mean changes but in a positive way. We value our staff and want to retain jobs. Additional training will be given where necessary."

But the move is said to have caused "great upset" to some employees.

A member of staff, who wished to remain anonymous, told The Hunts Post: "Staff do not want to be call-centre agents. It is not what they were trained for and not what they were employed to do."

Anglian Water could not confirm the number of staff affected but employees claimed it was 80 staff.