Prudential Life and Pensions in the UK is moving 1,000 call centre jobs to India according to private sector union Amicus. The union fears the move could mark the beginning of an exodus of call centre jobs to the sub-continent, a development which could have serious job implications here.

Workers in the UK who are paid approximately £15,000 sterling to £17,000 sterling per annum are to be replaced by workers in India who will receive 80 per cent less, according to the union.

Call centres in the Republic could be similarly threatened. A spokesman for Amicus said the union is particularly concerned about call centres working for financial services companies but that the threat applies to all types of call centres.

Such centres are major employers here. A survey earlier this year found that the Republic had the highest percentage of call centre employees in the world when measured against the working population. It found that 3.6 per cent of all workers were employed in call centres.

Companies involved in the computer industry, financial services and tourism/travel sectors employ significant numbers in Irish call centres which service Europe and beyond. A spokesman for the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment said there was no indication that the Republic was becoming any less attractive to call centre operators. A centre in Cork had announced a major expansion just last week, he pointed out.

According to the union, job cuts which Prudential chief executive Mr Mark Wood had planned to announce tomorrow include the "exporting" of 850 Life & Pension call centre jobs and up to another 100 or so support staff to India. The job export exercise is due to be completed by 2004, but jobs will start to transfer to India towards the middle of next year, according to the union. The company refused to confirm or deny the reports.

The jobs will be lost at the Prudential's Reading site, which currently employs nearly 3,500 staff. The employees at the site were given assurances only last November that Reading would remain a key site in the company's future plans, according to the union. Since 2001 and including this latest announcement, the company will have shed over 5,000 jobs in the UK, taking its total workforce to about 4,000, by 2004. This will represent a cut of over 55 per cent in a three-year period.

Prudential's decision to sell the UK jobs to India is based on an 80 per cent wages reduction from the average £15,000-£17,000 paid in the UK. The company estimates a total saving of around 50 per cent, according to the union. It could afford to employ university graduates in India for the much reduced salaries.

"Amicus sees this as only the start of the problem not only for the Pru's call centre workers but for other financial services employees as well. The industry will be watching the transfer with interest and with over 185,000 financial services call centre jobs in the UK any significant move to transfer these jobs overseas will have a drastic impact on the UK's economy," said a spokesman.

He told The Irish Times that he did not see any reason why the threat which hung over financial services call centres did not equally apply to centres involved in other sectors or to Irish centres as well as ones in the UK. He said the move by Prudential was by far the largest such move by a financial services company to date.

Mr Roger Lyons, Amicus joint general secretary, said: "This is a despicable act by the Prudential. Selling 850 UK call centre jobs and other support jobs to India is disgraceful. The only rationale being given is an 80 per cent saving on wages. No thought has been given to customer impact or the devastation this will cause to those 850 families that will be affected in the UK.Amicus wants to see this decision overturned and we will be looking at all avenues open to us in order to fight this outrageous announcement."