Firms face inquiry over job moves

HSBC Holdings, BT Group, Aviva and other companies who have cut costs by moving some jobs out of Britain will face an inquiry by lawmakers, according to trade union officials.

Unifi, a labour group representing financial workers, is one of several unions campaigning against companies’ plans to shift jobs from Britain call centres to countries with lower wages and other labour costs, such as India.

Ed Sweeney, Unifi general secretary, said in a statement that he had “received a strongly sympathetic reception” to his call for an inquiry by the House of Commons Trade and Industry Select Committee. A probe is “almost certain,” he said. Unions estimate that there are 6,000 call centres with the British employing some 500,000 workers. Those jobs are at risk as companies seek to locate their workers elsewhere, unions say.