Firstsource moves 40 Sky Ireland jobs to South Africa, draws criticism
LONDON, UNITED KINGDOM — Belfast-based call center workers at Firstsource Solutions face redundancy as 40 Sky Ireland contract roles shift to South Africa. Employees express frustration over the handling of layoffs, citing minimal severance offers, according to Belfast Live.
Firstsource Solutions relocates jobs amid cost-cutting
Many of the affected staff, who have survived previous layoffs, accuse the redundancy process of mishandling and dismissing their proposals for fairer severance packages.
“Some of my colleagues were here during the last round of redundancies and can’t believe how differently this has been dealt with. Back then, staff received a much more respectful and supportive package,” one of the employees affected told Belfast Live.
Employees viewed the company’s inadequate communication, which included an internal email celebrating $259 million in revenue, as a significant setback.
Meanwhile, Firstsource maintains that it is following legal redundancy protocols but faces criticism for offering only the statutory minimum payouts.
“Firstsource has begun an employee consultation process involving a small number of roles in Belfast, Northern Ireland. We have informed colleagues directly and are engaging in meaningful consultation with them,” said a spokesperson of Firstsource.
“We understand our responsibility as an employer, and our priority is to support our people with the assistance and guidance they need.”
Offshoring trend clashes with worker welfare
The move brings to the fore the conflict that exists between corporate economies and employee welfare in outsourcing practice.
Firstsource, whose clients include telecom, banking, and utilities providers around the world, has so far kept its plans for the future of its Belfast hub under wraps but has maintained that Ireland has been a major operational center.
Sky Ireland confirmed the transition, shifting support roles to Firstsource’s South African division. While offshoring is common in the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, the abrupt handling of layoffs has fueled discontent.
Firstsource recently ranked #30 in the OA500 2025, an objective index of the world’s top 500 outsourcing companies.
