The Amicus trade union, which represents people who don’t need a trade union (electricians, plumbers, white-collar workers and scientists), has begun a campaign against offshoring.
Fair enough: if someone were outsourcing my job, I’d probably campaign against it. Well, first I’d try and get a job as expat manager of the outsourcing place, but if that failed then I’d start campaigning.
However, the logic for their campaign is that Indian call-centre workers can’t be trusted with English customers’ data. They’ll sell it to ID thieves and Nigerian scammers left, right and centre. This is nonsense, and borders on the racist (“Darkies? Can’t be trusted…”).
Who’s more likely to get involved in selling customer details? Someone for whom the benefits significantly exceed what they’ve got to lose.
And who’s got more to lose: someone in India with a masters’ degree making ten times the national average wage, or someone in the UK with no qualifications (and who hasn’t had their details checked because their employers are so desperate for staff), making two-thirds of the average wage?
"…someone in the UK with no qualifications (and who hasn’t had their details checked… "
Now this is nonsense, and borders on the racist.
Work is not being outsourced from the UK because of a lack of qualified staff.
Our workers are as skilled and efficient as any others, but now, in some lines of work, find themselves uncompetitive and unemployable. They and their families would simply starve in the UK on a globally competitive wage – as little as 1/10th average wage.
If the priority of a company (and its customers) was for the data to be kept safe, then it should be processed internally within the organisation by staff who are committed to their customers – staff who feel they have a long term relationship with their company/customers.