BofA's overseas workforce has grown sharply

[babylonsister]

BofA's overseas workforce has grown sharply
Percentage of employees has gone from 2 to 5 with acquisitions of Countrywide and Merrill Lynch.

By Rick Rothacker

Posted: Friday, Apr. 03, 2009


Boosted by acquisitions of Countrywide Financial and Merrill Lynch, Bank of America's offshore operations have grown sharply in the past two years, exceeding 14,000 employees in India, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Philippines and Costa Rica, documents obtained by the Observer show.

This overseas staff, which handles technology, processing and other back-office tasks, now equals about 5 percent of the company's total employees. In 2007, the bank said it had about 4,000 employees in its main India offshoring operations, or about 2 percent of total workers then. Bank of America's workforce has jumped to about 301,000 from 200,000 at the beginning of 2007.

The growth comes as Bank of America cuts thousands of jobs companywide because of acquisitions and the weak economy. Banks that have accepted government bailout funds also are increasingly being asked to justify their compensation, marketing, corporate jet use and other business practices. Bank of America has accepted $45 billion in government loans.

For years, financial institutions have been on the leading edge of offshoring as they look to save on wages and tap overseas talent. Critics say the expansion comes at the expense of U.S. workers, a particular concern as unemployment is hitting the highest level in decades.

Experts say banks are looking to move more work overseas as they seek to cut costs in the recession. Financial institutions with significant offshore operations on average have 7 to 8 percent of their workforce overseas, according to the Deloitte consulting firm.

more...

http://www.charlotteobserver.com/597/story/640159.html

[OhioChick]

1. This is obscene with the unemployment rate so high here

Let India, the United Kingdom, Mexico, the Philippines and Costa Rica bail them out then.

This is insane. :mad:

[BR_Parkway]

2. That was my thought as well - let the countries benefitting be the one's

they hold their hat out to for bailouts.

[ihavenobias]

3. K & R, to the greatest. n/t

[unc70]

4. BofA overseas mostly from Countrywide and ML -- already laying off many of these

While there is much one can fault about BofA and its actions, it has done little of what is commonly described as moving operations offshore. Before acquiring Countrywide and ML, it had about 4000 employees outside the US, the majority in Western Europe where it has a few branches scattered around, some trading floors (it closed several in early 2008), and mostly handles corporate clients operating in Europe and in the US.

In Jan 2009 following the ML acquisition, it announce the layoff of 1900 from the newly-combined London operations, mostly from the ML side.

Of the Charlotte-based banks, Wachovia had been much more involved with moving operations offshore. I suspect that this article in the Observer is closely tied to Rep. Myrick working to attack the Obama administration and to create an issue.