Australian companies who outsource jobs and services overseas should identify themselves says Labor MP Steve Georganas.
This comes with last week’s announcement by Westpac that over 560 jobs will be axed Australia wide. Mr Georganas said that the onus was on the service industry to give the consumers the choice of whether or not they choose to do business with an Australian company who outsource all their information and jobs overseas.
“It’s about choice,” said Mr Georganas simply, “when we buy a product off the shelf we have labelling that says where it was made and what the ingredients are, and in the service industry it’s the same thing, we are buying a product yet we don’t know where the service is being performed.
“Consumers should have the choice of the service product we are buying and to know whether those services are provided here in Australia or whether they are being done overseas so people can decide themselves.” By informing the consumer, they will have the information to make an informed decision based on whether or not they choose to do business with an Australian company who outsource jobs and their personal information internationally.
“If people want to walk away from a particular service industry that is off-shoring then a bank may change it’s behaviour, and if they don’t, then the consumer obviously is agreeing with it.” But he says all in all, as Australian’s “we need the choice”. “The majority of Australians, when I raise this issue and [they] hear about it, will actually be quite shocked as they wouldn’t know what’s going on and I believe the consumer will decide with their feet.”
In a similar vein to the ‘Made in Australia’ logo, that is clearly visible on Australian made goods, Mr Georganas proposes an ‘Australian operated’ logo so consumers can see first-hand that the company operates entirely in Australia. He suggests that the information on whether or not services are conducted overseas is given to you at the point of transaction. Out of the 560 jobs that will be axed by Westpac across the nation, 150 will be sent overseas. Also, the workers who will be losing their jobs, have been told they will need to train their overseas replacements. That, Mr Georganas believes, is demeaning for the workers, describing it as: “asking someone to dig a grave and then jump into it”.
The call centre based in Mr Georganas’s electorate, is one of the largest in South Australia. He says that members of his constituent are “very frightened” about their jobs. “It’s created an atmosphere that’s very demeaning for the workers,” Mr Georganas told Neos Kosmos about the situation at the call centre in Lockleys.
“There’s a lot of uncertainty at the workplace and it’s not a good work environment. They know they are constantly being looked at to be cut, so any minor mistake that other places would not worry, these people are warned and the only reason is because they want to make them redundant.” Mr Georganas is concerned for the staff at the call centre saying their jobs are being made redundant not because of productivity or up-skilling or down-skilling, but because Westpac – who makes in vicinity of about $6 billion profit a year – are seeking further profits by off-shoring these jobs.
“I think it’s time that they did something for the community and ensured that they don’t offshore these jobs for the simple fact of making a profit,” says Mr Georganas.
