10 November 2004 High street bank Lloyds TSB is upping the number of back office jobs it plans to outsource to India to 2,500, nearly double the previous intention.

Lloyds intends create an additional 1,000 jobs in India, on top of the 1,500 it announced in May 2004, by the end of the year in an effort to streamline and cut costs.

The move comes amid heightened concerns about the number of jobs being sent overseas. Thousands of UK call centre jobs have been moved to India, but the Lloyds plan also includes shifting some of its IT work.

The bank plans to outsource existing back-office jobs from its headquarters in Bristol. Current jobholders at these branches will be offered alternative employment in the group, according to the company.

Lloyd’s has also offered to provide a £2,000 retraining bond to any workers that decide to leave through voluntary redundancy.