Lloyds cuts UK IT jobs, expands India workforce to 4,000

Lloyds Banking Group plans to hire 4,000 IT engineers in India while cutting a similar number of jobs in the UK, a move that will see nearly half of its engineering workforce based outside the UK by year's end. The new hires will work at a tech hub in Hyderabad as part of the bank's transformation strategy, which includes creating 1,200 new high-skilled tech roles. However, around 6,000 UK IT employees have been warned their jobs are at risk due to a skills review, with many needing to apply for the newly created positions through a competitive process. While Lloyds has not specified the exact number of job cuts, COO Ron van Kemenade acknowledged that some employees would not secure roles due to varying skills and reduced demand. Mark Brown, general secretary of the bank's independent union, criticized the decision, claiming it contradicts Lloyds' mission to support Britain. The restructuring reflects a larger trend among UK banks shifting IT operations to India to enhance efficiency through digitization and cost-cutting measures.