Source: timesofindia.indiatimes.com

LONDON: Outsourcing work by British companies to India does not cause job losses but boosts employment, according to a research by economists at the University of Nottingham.

Scores of major UK companies have been involved in off-shoring, which has often been opposed by unions. But the research by the Globalisation and Economic Policy centre (GEP) at the university says the efficiencies it has brought has actually boosted business and led to them employing more people in the UK, not less.

David Greenaway, director of the centre, said: “People fear their jobs are being exported to countries like India and China where labour is cheaper, but the picture is far more complex than that and much more positive. It would seem that firms that off-shore part of their production process or service provision overseas becomes more efficient. This boosts productivity and turnover and as a result these firms grow and end up employing more people at home, not fewer.”

The GEP research says there are losers when off- shoring takes place through higher job turnover and people are unable to adapt to new skills. Richard Kneller, who co-wrote the research, says it also explodes another myth about off-shoring.

He said: “The common perception of off-shoring is that it’s largely low-paid call centre jobs being exported to lower wage economies like China and India, but that’s not the case. If you think of manufacturing and the production of parts, then it is skilled work. If you look at car manufacturing, Ford may make engines at Dagenham but gear boxes in Spain; if you think of Airbus - Britain makes the wings and engines, France the bodies.”

“Most off-shoring is actually to similarly developed European nations and the US, where language skills are better,” Kneller said.

Source: www.foxbusiness.com

NEW YORK, ExlService Holdings, Inc. a leading provider of transformation and outsourcing solutions, today made several key announcements with respect to its relationship with Aviva.

Aviva has confirmed its commitment to EXL by renewing its outsourcing contract with EXL to provide services from EXL’s Noida facility through January 2012 including provisions relating to annual minimum volume commitments. The existing Noida contract with Aviva is in effect until July 2009.

Aviva has provided notice to EXL with respect to the exercise of the Build Operate Transfer (BOT) contract currently in place with EXL in Pune. The anticipated date of transfer of the Pune operations for Aviva is expected to be around August 9, 2008. Aviva is consolidating its captive operations and BOT contracts after conducting a commercial process for the sale of the assets.

Cathryn Riley, Chief Operating Officer of Aviva, stated: “We have enjoyed a long-term relationship with EXL which we look forward to continuing. EXL is a partner that we have come to rely on for excellent customer service and process reengineering and transformation skills. Extending the Noida contract makes absolute sense to us as we continue to enjoy the mutual benefit from Aviva’s relationship with EXL.”

Rohit Kapoor, President and CEO of EXL stated: “The extension of the Noida outsourcing contract clearly demonstrates that EXL’s focus on service quality in the insurance domain remains valuable to our partners. We continue to maintain a strong leadership position in the insurance domain with unrivaled domain expertise, well honed transformational skill sets and significant process breadth. While we were ultimately not the successful bidder to acquire Aviva’s consolidated BPO operations, we believe that our disciplined approach to this bidding process ultimately created a positive outcome for EXL that is in the best interests of our shareholders. EXL’s balance sheet position is strong and with significantly improved customer diversification we will continue to focus our efforts on the growth of new and existing clients.”