Morrisons outsources to India with 145 UK job losses

23-Sep-2012 - Last updated on 24-Sep-2012 at 15:28 GMT

Morrisons is cutting the jobs of 145 staff at its head office

Morrisons is outsourcing IT services from its Yorkshire-based head office to India, which will cause the loss of around 145 jobs.

A spokesman from Morrisons told FoodManufacture.co.uk the supermarket would be subcontracting its financial transaction processing to an Indian IT company called Wipro, in a bid to improve efficiency.

A total of 215 staff members working at the company headquarters in Bradford have received letters telling them of the proposals and the start of a 90-day consultation period.

Morrisons said the move would enable the supermarket to focus on its food business.

In a statement issued to FoodManufacture.co.uk, the supermarket said: “Consistent with its approach of focusing on its food business, Morrisons works with many third-party companies to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of support functions.

“Wipro is one of these providers of outside expertise, and Morrisons will be extending the services it provides.”

Consultation process

Although 215 staff have received letters about the consultation process, 50 of those would be eligible to apply for new posts being created in Bradford. Another 20 will be able to move to Bradford-based posts at Wipro.

Morrisons said: “This will mean that approximately 165 roles will move to Wipro, of which around 20 will be locally based.”

Morrisons said the consultation process had already begun. The statement said: “Morrisons has begun to consult with colleagues on the changes and will be helping them throughout this process.

“A plan will be put in place to retrain and redeploy colleagues into other roles in and around Bradford, where possible.”

‘Do business better’

Wipro is a global technology company with its headquarters in Bangalore, India.

A statement on the company’s website says Wipro’s goal is to help its clients “do business better”. It also describes a process called the ‘Wipro Way’, which promises to give its customers benefits by: “improving time-to-market, enhancing predictability and reliability, and cutting costs”.

Morrisons employs more than 20,000 staff across Yorkshire in stores, manufacturing, logistics and its head office.

It is the UK’s fourth largest food retailer with 477 stores.