Ciarán Hancock, Finance Correspondent
AIB plans to outsource 170 staff in its IT division. This will involve outsourcing three elements of its IT services - telecoms, operations security, and hosting and storage.
The bank, which is 99.8 per cent owned by the State, wants to outsource these roles to three companies - Eircom, Integrity and Wipro. It is understood that all of these positions will be located in Dublin and that no redundancies are planned.
About 250 AIB staff were informed of the bank’s plan at a meeting at the Ballsbridge Hotel today.
It is understood that about 35 staff are slated to move to Eircom with 130 set to switch to Wipro, an Indian listed company that already has an operation in Shannon. The balance are earmarked to move to Integrity.
In a statement, AIB said: “AIB today confirmed [TO STAFF]that it is entering a process of consultation with employee representatives to discuss the bank’s plan to outsource a number of services to Eircom, Integrity and Wipro.”
AIB declined to comment on the cost savings that will accrue from this move.
The Irish Bank Officials Association is due to meet the three service providers on Wednesday to discuss their plans.
The union said AIB is seeking to complete the first phase of negotiations on the outsouring with staff and their unions by the end of March and to have an agreement in place by the end of May.
Larry Broderick, general secretary of the IBOA, said AIB's decision was "disappointing given the commitment of those staff in the past and the fact that AIB is back in profit".
However, he welcomed the bank’s commitment that no staff would be made redundant and said the three vendors had committed to full negotiations and agreement prior to the implementation of the contracts.
“If this decision is in the strategic best interest of the bank it is important that staffs’ pay, pension, and terms and conditions are protected and the recent agreements on job security and restructuring transfer across as well,” Mr Broderick added.
“IBOA will be consulting with members in the coming days but there will be no co-operation until an agreement is in place with our members.”
