HSBC to double Indian software staff to 1,000

HSBC is to double the number of staff at its Indian software centre to 1,000 within the next 12 months but the bank has admitted it is also looking at alternative offshore locations.

According to reports in India's business newspapers, HSBC will increase the headcount at the software development centre in Pune from 500 to 1,000.

The bank has been one of the early adopters of the offshore model, opting for the captive route of moving to low-cost countries but keeping the facilities in-house rather than hand it over to a third-party service provider. HSBC also has business process outsourcing (BPO) centres in Bangalore and Hyderabad.

HSBC has publicly stated its intention to outsource 4,000 jobs to cheaper locations over the next two years and the bank admits it is also looking at Sri Lanka and the Philippines in addition to India.

HSBC was contacted but no-one was immediately available for comment.

Separately a survey of bank customers by the Lloyds TSB Union (LTU) this week revealed that 45 per cent of them would change bank if Lloyds TSB continued with plans to offshore call centre jobs. However, 40 per cent also said it wasn't an issue.