Laid-off IT workers at the University of California's San Francisco campus rallied Tuesday against offshore labor, according to a Computerworld report.
UCSF plans to replace a number of IT department workers, including permanent staff and contract employees, with outsourced workers.
The layoffs will take effect in February. Before that happens, though, the affected IT employees expect to train the foreign replacements, according to the article.
More than a dozen of the affected workers and their supporters attended Tuesday's rally outside the UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital, reports Computerworld. During the rally, the workers called for an end to the university's outsourcing program.
UCSF, which is struggling financially, partly due to declining reimbursement, said the outsourcing will help it save more than $30 million over five years. The school has contracted with three outside vendors, including India-based IT services company HCL, Silicon Valley cybersecurity firm FireEye and Dell, to support its IT services. The contract will result in the loss of 49 IT career positions, or 8 percent of UCSF's centralized work force. Another 48 jobs that are either currently vacant or filled by contractors also will be eliminated, the university said.
"The vast majority of UCSF's IT services will remain in house," the university said in a statement following the rally. "UCSF has followed all applicable laws and UC policy in determining to restructure a small portion of its IT services/operations."
Additionally, UCSF said it's working with the other University of California campuses to help affected employees find jobs, according to the report.
Computerworld reports that about 10 of the workers are filing a formal complaint with California's Department of Fair Housing and Employment, claiming the outsourcing is discriminatory because it replaces a diverse workforce with an all-Indian staff.
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