Employees

For a small local charity, Telco is making quite an impact. As we went to press, news broke that Barclays Bank was in discussions to ensure contracted-out cleaners for its new Canary Wharf headquarters, employed by Rentokil Initial, will be paid above competitive market rates, with pensions, holidays, training and bonuses included. Delighted trades unions say "social responsibility, about which most of these corporations make great play, is not just about the environment and making charitable donations. It is about ensuring minimum labour standards for anyone who is employed directly, or indirectly, by them".

But will a newfound sense of responsibility for "indirect" workers halt the trend towards outsourcing of low wage, low skill, low value add jobs? Surely not. Cleaning a high profile international headquarters is an exception that proves the rule. The cost savings from outsourcing are simply too big, estimated by some to be as much as £138bn worldwide over next five years. Indeed, the banking trade union, Unifi, reached agreement with the self-same Barclays in early January, paving the way for more offshore outsourcing, through early consultation and a package of benefits for those affected in the UK.

Just what are the social responsibilities of big name companies when they no longer directly employ entry level, low skilled jobs in significant numbers? One answer is more of the voluntary schemes reported above, brokered through the community affairs function at Marks & Spencer and Deloitte. The serious prospect of a permanent job is often the clinching factor in getting disadvantaged people to stay on the training schemes that open the way out for them through higher skills. Another answer is for employers to join the public debate just starting (again) about qualifications in schools, sparked by the Tomlinson report. Changes in examinations must spur improved attainment, not become yet another renaming exercise.

Finally, on low wages, another answer is lobbying for an increased statutory minimum wage, not something that comes naturally to private enterprise. Indeed Telco should join in, perhaps calling for a regional supplement, because something that requires one company to put itself at a cost disadvantage to its competitors out of a sense of social responsibility is simply not sustainable or replicable.