London's financial services to be outsourced to India
Movement in London’s financial services has once more caught the world’s attention: jobs from the hub of the world’s money market are heading for the hub of the world’s outsourced services: India.
A recently released report from British financial services consultancy firm Troika has predicted the exodus of some 100,000 jobs to low countries – of those, 15,000 high-paying ones from the City of London.
The motivation for this stir in the money market? Why, money of course. Even with the comparatively higher salaries paid to chartered accountants – or even a graduate of another field with some financial background – these still come off as cheap when compared to the cost of staffing offices with their British equivalent. Other overhead expenses have to be taken into account as well: construction and expenses incurred in setting up a new office.
Cashing in on this opportunity, Indian accountancy firms have sent feelers to London to scout around for business. Included in the work to be outsourced is working out payments for pension funds to avoid a shortfall. This requires constant updating to take into account longer life spans. Why India? Because “the skills required to do the calculations and financial modelling are already there in India, and also software models are available.”
The Times reports that Indian companies have been steadily making preparations over the past years to take on more profitable work capitalizing on skills and analysis – such as financial modeling and actuarial services. This can also be seen as attempts to break away from the stereotyped notion that India is all about cheap call centers where the most exhausting part of the job is to fake an American accent.
Troika’s managing director, Andrew Stewart informs The Times, “There is a growing shift to look at offshoring more complex and high-paid roles — finance, research, human resources, marketing, actuarial and underwriting.”
Indian companies are currently providing research services to London-based stockbrokers and management consultancies. They are also behind feeding into work done by equity research and economic research teams, and responsible for providing background industry analysis for consultants.
related stories, by category:
