How India is marketing its skilled workforce to Australian businesses

Detailed summary

India has positioned itself as a global hub of skilled, cheap labour, and Australian companies are cashing in and moving more jobs to its shores.

Qantas's announcement to shift 850 local jobs to India is the latest in a wave of white-collar jobs moving offshore.

India has marketed its large, mostly English-speaking workforce to businesses for decades, but the nature of the jobs has changed.

From clothing to credit cards, some of Australia's largest companies are shifting hundreds of jobs overseas, and the trend is not slowing down.

NAB, Westpac, Telstra, Bank of Queensland, Coles, Officeworks and Qantas are among companies that have announced plans to cut Australian jobs and move roles to Asia in recent years — most under so-called global capacity centres (GCCs).

GCCs are subsidiaries of foreign companies that allow them to maintain full control of their business rather than contracting a third party.

Bunnings announced plans for a GCC in India in 2020, but has not yet announced job cuts. Kmart opened one in 2018.

The companies said roles needed to move to cope with rising costs and the rapid adoption of artificial intelligence (AI).

The Finance Sector Union has called the cuts "callous" and "ruthless" in the face of soaring corporate profits.

India is home to about 50 per cent of the world's GCCs, the latest evolution of offshoring, which began with contracting out call centre work decades ago.

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