The UK Daily Mail is reporting that several leading British firms are preparing to move their call centres to Bulgaria. The newspaper reports that workers' salaries in Bulgaria now undercut those of India.
"Bulgarians can staff customer service centres, enter data and develop software for less than India, where wages have soared in recent years following an influx of foreign firms," the paper reports. "Bulgarian call centre staff can command 1500 pounds sterling a year, compared with 2500 pounds in India."
The Daily Mail also reports that, last week, bookmaker William Hill announced that it was moving some jobs to Bulgaria and that computer firm Hewlett Packard has also opened a call centre in Sofia. The paper quotes Kerry Hallard, of the National Outsourcing Association, as saying: "A major draw is that it's near. If there is a problem, the management know they can get there within half a day. The salaries are some of the lowest in Europe and there is a big pool of graduates. Call centres and white-collar work are seen as good jobs because the alternative is manufacturing or, unfortunately, unemployment."