Oil giant Royal Dutch Shell plans to outsource 3,200 IT jobs in a bid to make the company “leaner and meaner”, according to a leaked email from within the company.

The company has confirmed that it plans to make substantial cuts to its IT staffing as part of a drive to reduce costs by £500 million per year. But it has not confirmed the numbers mentioned in the leaked email, written by an unnamed IT employee and posted by anti-Shell website www.royaldutchshellplc.com.

EDS, T-Systems and AT&T are reportedly in the running for the work.

Both Shell and rival BP have announced cost-cutting drives in recent times. Despite the high price of oil, the sector saw profits dip in 2007.

Further reading

Clear sourcing An absence of benchmarking makes outsourcing contracts difficult to judge, says Metri Measurement Consulting.