Allen & Overy is moving a chunk of its London support jobs to Belfast, joining the growing number of firms outsourcing their back office functions. 180 roles will be transferred initially, with the ultimate aim of having 250 support staff in Northern Ireland by 2014.
The balloon went up at 2pm on Wednesday, when senior support staff were hauled in to a surprise meeting. They were told that office will open this autumn, and staff from HR, IT, Finance, Business Services and Library will all be hit. A spokesman told RollOnFriday that savings of around £11 million were anticipated in the first five years.
Wim Dejonghe, A&O's Managing Partner, said that it was a tough decision that had not been taken lightly, but it was inevitable asDavid Morley needed a new Rolex the way "global legal services are being delivered is changing" and that clients expected alternative resourcing models.
Riiiight. So it's not about the money, and so the savings that result from disrupting the lives of hundreds of staff will be passed on to the clients, will they? Err, not exactly. Dejonghe told RollOnFriday that this move would enable the firm "to remain competitive". But when asked whether hourly rates would be reduced to take account of the lower overheads, he said that this was "an unrelated matter". So that would be a "no".
A&O won't be the last to outsource its business support teams, as firms desperately strive to keep up their profits. But it hardly squares with A&O's corporate responsibility statement that "we believe we owe our wider responsibilities to our people".
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The balloon went up at 2pm on Wednesday, when senior support staff were hauled in to a surprise meeting. They were told that office will open this autumn, and staff from HR, IT, Finance, Business Services and Library will all be hit. A spokesman told RollOnFriday that savings of around £11 million were anticipated in the first five years.
Wim Dejonghe, A&O's Managing Partner, said that it was a tough decision that had not been taken lightly, but it was inevitable as
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Riiiight. So it's not about the money, and so the savings that result from disrupting the lives of hundreds of staff will be passed on to the clients, will they? Err, not exactly. Dejonghe told RollOnFriday that this move would enable the firm "to remain competitive". But when asked whether hourly rates would be reduced to take account of the lower overheads, he said that this was "an unrelated matter". So that would be a "no".
A&O won't be the last to outsource its business support teams, as firms desperately strive to keep up their profits. But it hardly squares with A&O's corporate responsibility statement that "we believe we owe our wider responsibilities to our people".