Lloyds bank staff will move to IBM in outsourcing deal

Lloyds Banking Group is to transfer 1,500 of its staff to IBM as part of a major outsourcing agreement.

In March, Computer Weekly reported that the bank would transfer the jobs to IBM, under Tupe regulations, as part of an IT infrsatructure outsourcing agreement worth £1.3bn over seven years.

At the time, the Lloyds Trade Union (LTU), which is no longer recognised by the bank, said Lloyds CIO Morteza Mahjour gave a presentation and said jobs in UK datacentres would move to the US IT supplier. When contacted, the bank would not comment directly but said it was looking to extend the use of cloud computing.

According to the Unite union, the deal is now done and 1,500 staff are moving from Lloyds Banking Group to IBM.
  
Dominic Hook, Unite national officer, said the union is seeking urgent reassurance from IBM and Lloyds about the long-term job security of affected staff. “This announcement will leave staff nervous about their future and angry about the loss of their final-salary pension,” he said. “The key concern for staff is that they get assurances about what this change will mean following the transition period and that there will be no change to their pay and terms and conditions.
  
“Unite will be meeting with staff over the coming days to hear their concerns and will be seeking further discussions with IBM about the future of the 1,500 staff. It is key to the staff who are being transferred that their new employer continues to recognise their trade union, Unite, for collective bargaining.” 

No Lloyds Banking Group spokesman was available for comment. ................................................................................................ .........................................................................................