Lloyds Banking Group is moving a significant portion of its skilled IT jobs from the UK to India, reported Financial Times.
By the end of the year, nearly half of the bank’s engineers will be based outside the UK.
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This shift involves hiring hundreds of IT engineers in India, primarily at a tech centre in Hyderabad, which opened in 2023.
At the time of the opening, Lloyds Banking Group group chief operating officer Ron van Kemenade said: “The opening of Lloyds Technology Centre represents a pivotal moment in our overall transformation journey, building on our growth in tech talent in the UK.”
The bank aims to have 4,000 permanent employees working in technology and data in India by year-end, the report said, citing an internal presentation.
This will represent nearly half of Lloyds’ global IT workforce.
The Hyderabad centre is recruiting for roles such as full-stack, cloud, and quality engineers, as part of an ongoing overhaul of Lloyds’ IT function.
In the UK, around 6,000 Lloyds IT employees were informed last month that their jobs were at risk.
The bank is reviewing the skills required for critical roles within its engineering job families.
As part of this review, Lloyds plans to create 1,200 new high-skilled tech jobs, with a competitive selection process concluding later this month.
While Lloyds has not disclosed the exact number of UK roles to be cut, it has confirmed that some employees will lose their jobs.
This move aligns with trends seen at other UK banks, such as NatWest and Nationwide, which have also shifted operations to India.
Lloyds’ strategy aims to improve returns through digitisation, as part of a broader £4bn ($5.17bn) investment plan led by CEO Charlie Nunn.
This includes enhancing revenues from areas less tied to interest rates and reducing costs.
The bank has already announced plans to cut 500 jobs this year and close two offices and 136 branches in the UK.
Lloyds stated: “Making changes means not only creating new roles and upskilling colleagues but also saying goodbye to talented people who have been part of the group’s success in the past.”
In response, Lloyds independent union BTU general secretary Mark Brown said the lender was “doing the exact opposite” of helping the UK succeed and accused it of “breathtaking hypocrisy”.
