Jobs at stake in Shell Cyberjaya

GhostWalking

Jobs at stake in Shell Cyberjaya

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KUALA LUMPUR, March 17, 2015:

Around 850 jobs could be at stake at Shell offices in Cyberjaya as the Anglo-Dutch oil major consolidates its IT functions at a new base in Bangalore, India.

While no decision has yet been made, a senior officer dropped this bombshell during a town hall meeting with staff in Cyberjaya late last month, said sources.

The Bangalore move could also affect some 1,000 third party contractors if they are unable to relocate to India, the sources said.

The Shell Technology Centre Bangalore (STCB) is to be one of the three global hubs for technology, after Houston and Amsterdam for the energy group.

“By the end of 2010, STCB employed around 700 professionals and has plans to grow to about 1,500 in the near future. Recruitment at STCB is currently focused on graduates in India and experienced Indian professionals,” Shell Global said at its website.

Given this focus, chances are staff now employed at Cyberjaya may find it difficult to be relocated to Cyberjaya, said the sources, and will probably have to look for new jobs here.

A Shell company spokesperson here said: “Shell recently announced the strategic intention to create an in-house global information technology centre in Bangalore. India.

“This is part of a review of the company’s global IT projects and selected operations support capability that places greater emphasis on delivering projects in-house.”

Asked about the possible job losses at Cyberjaya, the spokesperson said: “We anticipate no direct impact to Shell staff in Malaysia during 2015 as a result of this proposed change. The project is at an early stage of development.

“Given our strategic intent, however, it is expected that there is likely to be staff impact as a result of this activity. We do not yet know the extent of this impact.

“We will share details when they become available with staff and their representative bodies, where appropriate.”

The spokesperson added: “Shell has been in Malaysia for over 100 years and we believe there are still many opportunities for Shell in Malaysia.

“Shell has no plan to close our Cyberjaya business operations centre. IT is just one of the functions based there.

“The centre also provides valuable human resources, finance, distribution, communications production services, global commercial and contracting and procurement support to Shell’s global operations.

“We continue to look for ways to migrate higher value work to our Cyberjaya Business Operations centre from our global operations.”

TRP