City & Guilds scraps mass redundancies and offshoring UK jobs to Greece

The vocational training body City & Guilds has guaranteed that plans for mass compulsory redundancies and the offshoring of hundreds of UK jobs to Greece will no longer go ahead. The proposal to remove about 400 UK roles was first reported by the Guardian in December as part of a £22m cost-cutting drive after the acquisition of the charity’s training and awards business by the Greek-owned PeopleCert in October. A presentation prepared for PeopleCert investors had said staff leaving UK roles would be replaced with people abroad. After the sale, about 75 compulsory redundancies were announced. The strategy caused widespread dismay within the training sector and left City & Guilds facing potential legal and industrial action . However, on Thursday the union Unite said negotiations with PeopleCert had “secured a financial settlement for the limited number of workers currently being made redundant”, meaning compulsory job losses had been largely avoided. Peter Storey, a regional officer at the union, said: “Unite will remain vigilant of the future direction of travel at City & Guilds under PeopleCert.” A spokesperson for City & Guilds added: “Measures have been agreed to minimise the impact on affected colleagues, maximise opportunities for redeployment and voluntary redundancy, and provide enhanced financial and practical support for those whose roles are ultimately confirmed as redundant. …