EIGHTY temporary roles previously offered to Swindon residents in the offices of Nationwide are to be relocated to India.

The building society, which employs 4,400 people in Swindon, is trying to make itself more efficient in reacting to the demands of seasonal changes in the banking sector by outsourcing to Genpact, an operations manager. The move is likely to be next month.

A spokesman for the building society focused on the need to be efficient and competitive, although he said that cost was a factor in the decision.

“This decision has been taken to provide a number of solutions for the organisation,” said a spokesman.

“Ultimately this is about efficiency of the operation. We need to become more efficient in scaling up and scaling down, as and when we need to.

“Cost would be a part of the decision too.”

The jobs will not involve call centre duties, which will all remain in the UK. The group said that it is still committed to a UK-based phone service.

The roles going to India will involve back office administration tasks and paperwork.

Nationwide reaffirmed its commitment to Swindon by drawing attention to the 150-plus adverts it has for jobs open to people from the area.