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Is offshoring causing you headaches at work?
Wednesday, 5 March 2008


Apart from the loss of jobs and skills from the Australian finance sector that result from offshoring, and concerns about customer privacy, what effect does offshoring have on your ability to do your job? FSU has heard stories of delays and communication problems and members have expressed concern about the quality of service customers receive.

Has this happened to you? What is the effect of offshoring at your workplace?

Post your comment on the FSU online forum below.

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Member Rights Centre
 Ph: 1300 366 378


Your comments

Service standards have dropped dramatically. Staff are spending more time chasing up documents/correcting errors etc. Customers are complaining about speaking to "foreigners who they can not understand" so they then call their local branch for minor matters to be attended to. Errors are being made on our customers accounts and we are spending hours and hours to get them fixed. They do not understand our systems and we are having to try to explain to them how to do their jobs. I worry about what is happening to our customers accounts. The public should know what is going on

Posted by 401660 at 6/03/2008 12:08:53 PM
Member comment submitted via email:

Credit Card approvals used to be done in 24 hours, now since Cards was sent overseas approvals take 5 days. How's that better for customers?

Posted by lshingles at 6/03/2008 1:10:34 PM
I spent 40 mins to Bangalore about a collections matter, to have them remove a code so a deposit could be made. they could not delete the code properly and our help desk eventually solved my problem. I rang back to their supervisor to advise him the correct procedure.He promised to pass it on to his staff.Time will tell.

Posted by 8527 at 6/03/2008 4:16:44 PM
There have been some nightmare stories regarding the loading of applications which are submitted via the broker chanel. An administration team has been set up offshore which handles the loading of clients applications. Prior to this we were advised that the team (offshore) would recieve extensive training even more so than our current staff within the unit would. Many resources were allocated to them to ensure a smooth process. Our own staff do not recieve any formal training to complete this role yet an offshore team had a multitude of trainers and formal training.

Unfortunately it has not been successful. The loading of applications have been pitiful to say the least. They are unable to identify with the customer or with the items that are listed on applications. Nor are they able to grasp specific loan structures that clients request . They cannot comprehend broker notes that are submitted on file .
These faults are then filtered thru to our unit in which with many of our hours are spent in trying to rectify the problems incurred. All problems are not always fixed and loans end up being approved and sometimes even settle with these errors. When the errors are discovered it can all be traced back to the inital loading on the file which has been done offshore. Customers are unaware of the poor service they recieve.
We have also been advised that we are not to tell our core customer group ( brokers) that we have an offshore admin site. If there is an error with the loading of a broker's file we are to advise them that our "admin team" has made the error. Little do they know that the admin team cannot relate with the brokers request nor can the broker contact them to discuss why the file was messed up. The blame game begins and many innocent staff are blamed.

When these issues are discussed with higher management we are advised that according to the sampling they have an approx 90% accuracy rating on these files. I believe that he sampling process is flawed as it it is not a true random test. The offshore staff are aware of the files being requested and extra time is spent on these particular files in order to have them pass the accuracy test . hence a 90% rating on files.
What is even more disturbing is that our unit management has requested us to vet the files as they come in and highlight any errors. Our own managers have no faith in the sampling process. They would like for us to print out the errors in order to build a case to contradict they figures coming from head office.
This now adds alot of extra time on each file as we need to check every little item that is loaded. Some of these can have up to 50 items that need to be double checked on every file. This is even proir to us starting to assess the loan No allowance has been given to our current KPI's etc for this added process.
What I find hard to understand is that if the offshore training was so extensive then why would we need a whole dept to "double check" the work being completed.
This was a rushed process, it was rolled out in under two weeks into our unit.

I belive that the offshore process is merely a streamlining of process and a cost cutting excercise . if the same recources were allocated to admin teams within the indicidual broker units it would improve the process considerably. If the same formal training was offered to our admin staff we could instill more customer focus, broker satisfaction and interaction which would lead to a growing business.

Unfortunately the powers that be do not share the same sentiment. A dark day has approached us when management truly believes that an offshore dept can offer the same level of service as that of a localised unit. This is a slippery slope that they are trying to climb and could result in loss of a grave deal of business if our customers were to be told of the facts.

Posted by 1090514 at 6/03/2008 4:25:06 PM
The truth of the matter is that I believe many of the large financial organizations are seeking alternatives like off-shoring to save money on unplanned costs that existing workers here in Australia are creating themselves!

Not to say that I disagree with some of the comments made in previous comments regarding the impact that off-shoring has had on our customers experiences in language barrier for both parties and what appears to be lengthly delays on processes that used to take half the time or less.

Still, in defence of my first comment, some of the training provided in Australia for those of us that reside in Australia is more than likely (this is speculation of course) superior and more than likely costs more. The large portion of money that is spent on training alone is lost within the first three weeks due to lazy Australian residents that purposefully take sick days when not sick, leave after paid for training is completed, fail to take the training seriously once entering into full time employment resulting in job dissatisfaction.

In conclusion rather than complain about the present situation where off-shoring has become a reality how about looking at present conditions and failings in Australia that are enticing our superiors to look into that very option. What are we doing to improve the way we do our jobs proving that we are better equipped to do that job efficiently and with Australian pride!

Look in the mirror first and propose to those implementing off-shoring that it isn't better for Australia and isn't better for the Australian public but get some proof first!

Posted by 1090659 at 7/03/2008 9:24:51 AM
Member submission via email:

As a staff member and loyal customer of the St.George Bank, I am in constant contact with my fellow employees and customers who are both disillusioned and disappointed with the bank which prides itself on (and boasts of) its people focused culture. The decision to offshore has sent a ripple effect of low morale right across the bank, which is also being felt and expressed by our customers. In addition, the unacceptable delays being experienced are putting my colleagues and I under immense pressure, with customers expressing their dissatisfaction (and often disbelief) upon hearing why their requests are still not actioned.

Nathan, St.George

Posted by lshingles at 10/03/2008 10:23:24 PM
Member submission via email:

I am greatly concerned by offshoring of jobs. It is one of the reasons I joined the union.

On numerous occasions I have rung card services and not been able to understand instructions given. I believe everyone deserves a fair go but when I cannot help my customer if I cannot understand what I am being told.

In one particular incident the gentleman I was speaking was quite irate that I could not understand "simple english". I tried really hard to understand and the experience was EXCEPTIONALLY frustrating.

Many colleagues feel exactly the same way, we are not adequately servicing our customers. I have also heard of people ringing several times to get someone they are able to understand - all that lost time and customer dissatisfaction. I am appalled that they are seeking to take further jobs away. I want the jobs back so I can understand like the Adelaide Help Desk they are FANTASTIC.

FSU Bank SA member

Posted by lshingles at 19/03/2008 2:11:05 PM
The constant headaches and abuse we are getting from customers and conveyancers is getting beyond the joke. I currently work in a call centre for home loan discharges/ variations where almost all processing is in India, and we are the ones coping all the abuse as things are out of service levels, we are often asked what's is going on with your bank???? what are we supposed to say to that? . Every day I hear comments that customers will be writing to the banking ombudsman ....

Posted by 1030157 at 10/10/2008 3:14:24 PM

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