Workers kept in dark

4:06pm Friday 19th May 2006

WORKERS at a telecommunications call centre in Bishop's Stortford are being kept in the dark over their futures.

Newly merged cable giant ntl:Telewest announced last week that a total of 6,000 employees - over a third of its UK workforce - will leave the company before the end of 2007, 80 per cent of whom are expected to leave within the next 12 months.

Currently 13 employees are operating from the Bishop's Stortford centre although it remains unclear what the situation is for them, or the 700 other staff at centres in the region, at this time.

National officer for the Amicus union Peter Skyte blasted the announcement as "a devastating blow for thousands of employees across the whole country".

He added: "There is no corporate social responsibility in this announcement and it is difficult to fathom how cutting so many UK jobs will be good for NTL's customers."

Chief operating officer at ntl:Telewest Neil Berkett admitted that the announcement would cause "uncertainty for some employees and the communitites they live in."

He added: "We will be working hard to ensure minimal compulsory redundancies wherever we can.

"We will continue to communicate as honestly and openly as possible with our employees throughout the process and provide whatever support and advice is needed."

The news comes following the recent £3.4 billion merger between ntl and Telewest and is designed to save £250 million per year. The company have stated that a number of jobs will be transferred under outsourcing agreements, including 1,500 to IBM, while it is "anticipated that a significant proportion will be transferred to strategic partners under similar arrangements."

They also believe a large number will be accounted for by natural attrition, voluntary redundancy and a reduction in the use of temporary staff and added that it hoped to keep compulsory job losses to a minimum Mr Berkett said: "We have consistently said that headcount reductions are likely. We cannot a void taking difficult decisions if it means a better experience for our customers in the long term."