HSBC is shutting down a payments processing centre in Livingstone, Scotland, leading to the loss of 164 jobs.Financial Union Unite has reacted furiously to the decision and says the move will result in compulsory redundancy for all staff at the office, with the vast majority of the jobs being offshored to India.
The bank told BBC reporters that it expects many of the staff will be re-deployed among its Scottish workforce.
But a Unite spokeswoman told Finextra this is extremely unlikely and the bank has "no comparable jobs in Scotland".
"Staff have been told clearly they will be made redundant," she said.
Unite says HSBC was awarded a £1 million grant in 2006 to create jobs in Scotland and has called on the bank to "honour its commitment to the local economy".
"HSBC promote themselves as the 'world's local bank', but the decision to abandon their workforce in Livingston is a betrayal of this principle," says Graham Goddard, deputy general secretary, Unite. "The 164 employees that HSBC have deserted are now left without any attractive employment prospects locally."
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