Household HSBC Watch

Among the largest non-U.S. banks to jump on the outsourcing bandwagon is London-based HSBC. Starting with one software-development center in Pune, a satellite city of Bombay, the bank moved on to establish development centers in China and Brazil. It also has opened back-office operations in five Indian cities. But Pune’s steel-and-glass structure, overlooking the city on one side and the countryside on the other, is HSBC’s star center and one of its most important operations.

The move came at the expense of UK and US workers while HSBC began a program of opening more branches in the US. HSBC still maintains ties with Kanbay, an outsourcing contractor for predatory lender Household International. HSBC acquired Household International after the largest predatory lending scandal in US history.

The outsourcing industry is filled with young people, and HSBC’s unit is no exception — the average age of its Indian staff is 25. Staffers come to the industry right out of a competitive college environment.