Email
Print
ShareMumbai: After the US, it is the UK which is seeing protests over the entry of foreign IT workers.
A UK staffing association, the Association of Professional Staffing Companies (APSCo), has alleged that IT firms from outside the UK are using the intra-company transfers route to bypass UK IT workers.
The association has urged the UK Migratory Audit Commission (MAC) to undertake a review of regulations related to intra-company transfers.
As per regulations in the UK, firms are not required to tap the UK labour market before they can transfer workers from overseas through intra-company transfers. This has led to an assumption that UK workers are being left out and that employees brought in that way
are paid less than the market rate.
Intra-company transfers account for 80% of all work permits issued in the IT sector in the UK. The association obtained data through the Freedom of Information (FOI) Act, the equivalent of the Right to Information Act in India, on employees brought in through intra-company transfers by foreign IT firms, including Tata Consultancy Services (TCS), Infosys and Wipro, in 2008.
According to the data, of the 29,240 IT workers who entered the UK through intra-company transfers in 2008, 12,573 came from seven Indian companies.
"Indian IT companies transferring workers to the UK have grown rapidly as a result of the offshoring boom over the last decade, which saw thousands of British IT jobs sent to India. Since then, these companies have established subsidiaries in the UK to tap into the UK outsourcing IT market, but they are importing vast numbers of staff from India for jobs, which could be filled by EU workers," states a December 4 document sent by APSCo to DNA Money.
APSCo added that the route has been misused to bring in entry level workers. "Intra-company transfers were designed to be used to fill senior positions where company-specific knowledge or experience is needed, but these figures show that they are being used to fill entry to mid-level roles in which the skills used are largely standardised. Intra-company transfers are being done on an almost industrial scale!"
Terming the intra-company transfers as a medium to reduce costs by foreign IT firms, Ann Swain, chief executive officer of APSCo said, "Foreign companies are supposed to pay workers brought into the UK at the going market rate, but I wonder whether there isn't some economic benefit to transferring Indian workers from a low-wage economy to the UK. If there is no cost-saving, then why do they do it?"
The top IT firms in India, such as TCS and Infosys, however, say there has been no breach of any law with regard to recruitment, people transfers or salary.
Ajoyendra Mukherjee, head, global human resources, TCS said, "There were some recommendations from MAC in UK. At TCS we are abiding by the recommendations in letter and spirit and we follow the stipulated law of the land in all respects."
V Balakrishnan, chief financial officer, Infosys Technologies said, "We do not know in what context is the data projected. However, Infosys Technologies gives comparable remuneration to its employees. There is no discrimination whatsoever."
