Accenture staff face jobs threat

National Australia has awarded the contract to another company

Eleven IT staff working at Accenture in Belfast are going to lose their jobs, according to the Unite union.

The posts have been put under threat by National Australia Group's (NAG) decision to award a contract to First Data instead of Accenture.

The staff, who are former NAG employees, were outsourced to Accenture in 2007 on a five-year contract.

The trade union, Unite, said there was "serious doubt" about the future of the 18 staff at Accenture in Belfast.

"Accenture has indicated that the viability of retaining any presence in Northern Ireland is in serious doubt, creating real uncertainty for the remaining 18 staff, with the likelihood of these roles being off-shored to Bangalore by mid-2010 and with the possibility of some redeployment opportunities in Glasgow," the trade union said in a statement.

However, Accenture stressed that the company had no plans to close its Belfast office.

"Recently, our client changed the scope of our assignment," it said.

"In response, we have identified the need to rebalance our workforce in the Belfast area over the next few months.

"We are in discussions over alternatives to this proposal. If this proposal is implemented, we will attempt to redeploy as many of the individuals impacted by this proposed change as possible."