BAT shifts UK jobs to Asia
CIGARETTE maker British American Tobacco is to switch a quarter of the production at its last UK factory to Asia in a move likely to lead to job losses.
The world's second largest tobacco firm said it had begun a review of the factory in the southern port of Southampton and will look at a range of options, including its possible closure.
The south coast factory makes cigarette brands, including Dunhill, Rothmans and Lucky Strike, and employs around 660 manufacturing staff.
'It is a serious situation, we will look at all the options and report back to employees in the next four to eight weeks,' said BAT spokesman David Betteridge. 'Without replacement volume, job losses are inevitable.'
BAT said the majority of the 24 billion cigarettes made each year at the Southampton plant were for export and that it made sense to produce them nearer the markets.
About 25% of Southampton's volume will switch to BAT factories in South Korea and Singapore. The production switch is due to start in November and be completed by next summer. The BAT spokesman said there was no direct connection between a strike at the factory late last year over pay and the cutbacks.
The announcement comes a day after insurance giant Norwich Union said it was preparing to send more work overseas after staff at a UK office were told their roles would be carried out in India.
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Owner Aviva said around 70 customer accounts-based positions at Norwich Union Direct were being created offshore, as part of a previously-announced strategy to have up to 7,000 jobs in India and Sri Lanka by 2007.
Hundreds of manufacturing firms in Western economies have switched production to Asia in a bid to tap into the region's cheap labour pool.
Thousands of white collar jobs, particularly in financial services, call centre work and IT, have also moved to India, where much of the workforce is English-speaking and regarded as highly skilled.
