Outsourcing: The business in Canada and beyond
RBC/iGate
We started this segment with a clip from some of the employees of iGate corporation in India explaining how they learn jobs from somewhere else and bring them to India. It's a safe bet employees at RBC Royal Bank won't be raising glasses to the Bangalore cricketers anytime soon.
Many Canadians are furious that RBC is apparently using temporary foreign workers to replace permanent Canadian staff. In fact, some have called for a bank boycott and the federal government says its investigating.
But RBC president, Gord Nixon, denies outsource its workforce. At least that's what he appeared to tell Amanda Lang last night on CBC News Network.
It may be a little difficult to parse his words, particularly since the bank now says it's trying to find positions for displaced employees. But Mr. Nixon suggests that subcontractor -- iGate Corporation -- is responsible.
RBC has been outsourcing I.T. work to the Indian-based company for several years but most Canadians only learned about that partnership this week. RBC employee Dave Moreau first explained the outsourcing plan to CBC News.
Panel: Armine Yalnizyan / Ron Babin
RBC has been using iGate's so-called outsourcing services for the past eight years now. And the bank certainly isn't the only Canadian company to outsource.
With more on the business of outsourcing and its impact on Canadian workers and business, we were joined by two people.
Ron Babin is an Assistant Professor at the Ted Rogers School of Information Technology Management at Ryerson University. He specializes in outsourcing. He also co-authored a book called Sustainable Global Outsourcing.
And Armine Yalnizyan is a Senior Economist with the Canadian Centre for Policy Alternatives.
They were both in our Toronto studio.
This segment was produced by The Current's Dawna Dingwall and Vanessa Greco.
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