The rich world's Bangalore

摘要

America's loud debate about offshor-ing has its echo in Britain, and the volume of argument rose this week on the publication of two reports. One was gloomy and one optimistic, so they looked at first sight contradictory. On closer inspection, though, their conclusions proved compatible. On November 8th, the Confederation of British Industry said that companies face growing pressure to relocate parts of their business overseas. A survey of 150 firms revealed that 30% already do some of their work offshore and a further 23% are considering doing so. Supporting evidence emerged the next day, when Lloyds TSB, a bank employing 77,000 people in Britain, said that it expected to have as many as 2,500jobs-includingacall-centre in Mumbai which is replacing one in Newcastle-located in India by the end of next year. That's up from 1,500 at present.