Offshoring won't turn UK into "nation of hairdressers"

The UK will not be turned into a "nation of hairdressers" by outsourcing IT and call centre jobs to low-cost offshore locations such as India, according to the government.

Speaking at an offshoring debate held by the National Outsourcing Association, Malcolm McKinnon, head of the Department of Trade and Industry's Trade in Services unit, denied that those UK staff displaced by offshore outsourcing would end up in manual jobs.

"I do not think we are looking at a doomsday scenario of a nation of hairdressers," he said.

But Trades union representatives on the panel warned that the country faces an IT specialist skills deficit in years to come as more IT work and knowledge is exported overseas.

Lesley Manasseh, deputy general secretary of trade union Connect, said that as more entry-level IT positions are offshored there will be fewer and fewer homegrown specialist and experienced IT people coming through the ranks.

"Where is the training ground for the software engineers so companies don't rely on an ever decreasing pool of specialist workers in the future?" he said.

Peter Skyte, national officer at Amicus, said UK businesses are in danger of engaging in a "race to the bottom" as they move from one offshore location to another looking for more and more cost savings through cheaper labour.

Rory Murphy, assistant general secretary at Amicus, said that while the UK can't compete on labour costs it can compete by exploiting and developing the existing skills of UK workers.

Murphy said unions have to accept offshoring as a fact of business life and work to ensure it is done in the right way and in consultation with staff. But he accused some businesses of involving staff and unions on offshoring decisions too late in the day once it has already been decided.

"Staff are not stupid," he said. "But a lot of companies have just got their heads stuck up their backsides."