Steria civil servant offshoring, not a done deal, says union
18 September 2013
The main civil service union, the Public and Commercial Service Union, says it hasn’t given up hope that a deal to offshore more than 1,000 civil servant jobs can be stopped in its tracks.
Wed, 18 Sep, 2013The main civil service union, the Public and Commercial Service Union, says it hasn’t given up hope that a deal to offshore more than 1,000 civil servant jobs can be stopped in its tracks.
As recruiter.co.uk reported yesterday, French IT staffing company Steria has been awarded preferred bidder status by the Cabinet Office for a £500m 10-year deal, which would see civil servants in three government departments offshored as part of the government’s drive to reduce costs across Whitehall.
A spokesperson for the PCSU, which is opposed to the deal, tells Recruiter: “There is still a chance of it [the deal] not happening.” The spokesperson cites the example of a similar deal involving Hewlett Packard, which he says was called off after the Cabinet Office “saw sense”.
The spokesperson tells Recruiter that following talks between the union, Steria and the Cabinet Office earlier this week, there is still no information on which country the UK civil servants’ jobs would be offshored to. The spokesperson adds that there is “every possibility” of industrial action by PCSU members over the issue.
A Steria spokesperson tells Recruiter the company has nothing to add to yesterday’s statement. A Cabinet Office spokesperson also tells Recruiter that it has nothing further to add.
As recruiter.co.uk reported yesterday, French IT staffing company Steria has been awarded preferred bidder status by the Cabinet Office for a £500m 10-year deal, which would see civil servants in three government departments offshored as part of the government’s drive to reduce costs across Whitehall.
A spokesperson for the PCSU, which is opposed to the deal, tells Recruiter: “There is still a chance of it [the deal] not happening.” The spokesperson cites the example of a similar deal involving Hewlett Packard, which he says was called off after the Cabinet Office “saw sense”.
The spokesperson tells Recruiter that following talks between the union, Steria and the Cabinet Office earlier this week, there is still no information on which country the UK civil servants’ jobs would be offshored to. The spokesperson adds that there is “every possibility” of industrial action by PCSU members over the issue.
A Steria spokesperson tells Recruiter the company has nothing to add to yesterday’s statement. A Cabinet Office spokesperson also tells Recruiter that it has nothing further to add.
