After getting a bit of a hammering in the media over its Northern Ireland call centres, fifth ranked India-based IT services major HCL must have derived some comfort from being among the winners of the 2011 Britain’s Top Employers awards. HCL has a decade-long history in Northern Ireland, through its acquisition of BT’s call centres. The recent spat centred on proposed cuts in pay and conditions apparently triggered by major clients – among which figure BT and Thames Water – demanding a better deal. Such is life in the call centre market!
By the way, HCL is not the only India-based player in Northern Ireland. Much smaller BPO pure-play, Firstsource, claims to be the biggest employer in the Northern Ireland call centre market (see Firstsource first among peers in UK job creation) and has been gaining ground in mainland Britain too (see Firstsource confirms Barclaycard contract). And just to be clear, yes, these are examples of India-based players ‘onshoring’ in the UK.