Asda is outsourcing over 100 of its IT staff to an Indian-based supplier in a move sparking fears of job cuts, as the supermarket looks to cut costs.
Outsourcing plans were revealed to staff in an email last week, affecting IT staff working in the grocery retailer’s Leeds headquarters, which houses 5,000 colleagues.
According to The Telegraph, the proposal to move employees to Mumbai-headquartered Tata Consultancy Services was announced 24 hours before private equity firm TDR Capital took majority control of Asda.
The grocer’s co-owner Zuber Issa sold his stake in the supermarket chain last week, bringing the ownership of Asda to 67.5% by TDR Capital, 22.5% by Mohsin Issa, and 10% by Walmart.
Between 130 and 135 staff members have entered the outsourcing consulting process, while the retailer did not rule out redundancies when contacted.
The process is expected to be pushed through by September, fuelling fears of job cuts.
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Nadine Houghton, national officer for the GMB trade union, told the title she feared more job cuts would follow.
An Asda spokesperson said: “We are building world-class systems in a once in a generation IT transformation – Project Future – to separate Asda from Walmart’s legacy systems.”
“Project Future will deliver a step-change in our data capabilities, our customer experience, and competitive edge. Put simply, it is a key building block of our strategy that will set Asda up for long-term success.
“As part of this process, we have taken the difficult decision to propose some changes to our technology function to ensure we have the necessary skills and capabilities in place to support these new systems.
“We have opened a collective consultation with colleagues impacted by this proposed change and will do all we can to support them during this process that they may find unsettling. We are fully on track to complete the three-year Project Future programme by the end of this year.”
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