The UK insurance sector could shed 20% of its workforce by 2010 - about 65,000 jobs - as it moves call centres abroad, management consultant Accenture has warned in a report.
It cited payroll savings and the number of highly qualified staff in countries such as India as the reasons.
The report said companies would take this route out of necessity rather than choice.
Comparable pay rolls in India were between 10% and 20% of UK levels.
With costs of running offshore operations taken into account, annual savings could be about 40% to 60%.
A number of major insurance companies have already transferred part of their support operations to offshore locations, including Royal & SunAlliance, Bupa, AXA and Churchill.
