Staff at a major firm in Trafford say they are terrified about not being able to pay their bills after they were told to move to Romania or risk losing their jobs.
Around 60 employees at Verastar Ltd in Sale were reportedly hauled into a virtual meeting last week, where they were told they're at risk of being made redundant if they aren't prepared to move overseas.
The company, which provides over 10 per cent of the UK's small businesses with essential services, said the 'difficult economic climate' and 'war in Ukraine' meant they needed to move their Telecoms Technical Support team to another company.
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Employees working within the department have been told their contracts will be moved from Verastar to Ascensos by the end of April, and would involve living in Romania.
In an email sent to staff, seen by the M.E.N, bosses said: "We believe that Ascensos will be able to assist us in meeting those economic challenges.
"Ascensos will therefore announce that one of their measures will be a relocation to Bucharest in Romania which we feel is the right option due to their location having a wider resource pool, solid infrastructure and technology, which will deliver greater efficiency.
"We do acknowledge that the work is being moved offshore and therefore will be seeking clarification from you as to whether you wish to transfer.
"This may seem obvious since it is unlikely colleagues would wish to transfer overseas, but it is a legal requirement that we ask. Those who do not wish to transfer would unfortunately be placed at risk of redundancy by Ascensos."
One employee, who has asked to remain anonymous, said the news had come as a big shock to staff, after claims he and fellow colleagues received a bonus payment earlier in the year.
"We were called into a teams meeting on February 9 where we told a script would be read and then the call would end and we wouldn't be able to ask any questions," he said.
"They told us that an email would be sent out telling us that we would have to relocate to Romania or be made redundant. I think it's around 60 people who have been affected.
"There are a lot of people really worried about it. People have mortgages and bills to pay and are worried they will be in trouble."
The employee claims he and other colleagues were told they would be able to apply internally within Verastar, but claims that there are only around five available vacancies. A spokesperson for Verastar said 'the majority' of staff will have the opportunity to be considered for redeployment elsewhere within the business.
"It's not really going to cut it," he said. "I am now having to compete against dozens of people for the same jobs in the same area.
"Last year they introduced a bonus scheme which raised our salaries to over £27,000 but now they are saying they can't pay that and blame Ukraine. These pay rises were after that so it doesn't make any sense.
"I have rent and debt of my own to pay. I've been applying for other jobs but I've no idea what is going to happen. It's absolutely disgusting how we all found out.
"It's unfortunate that a company is treating staff, some of whom have worked there for over 10 years, and given their heart and soul to the company, like worthless pieces of meat."
A spokesperson for Verastar Ltd said: "The difficult economic climate, driven by multiple external factors, continues to create a very tough trading environment for our small business customers. Our commitment to support and serve customers when they need us through their channel of choice - by phone, email or online - and at the best time for them, is more important than ever.
"To provide greater flexibility in how we deliver customer care, we have proposed an extension to our partnership with an external customer service centre provider. As a result, we are consulting with some colleagues about the transfer of roles to this partner.
"We understand this is a difficult time for our colleagues and are providing support throughout the formal consultation process, including though our employee assistance programme, a dedicated email address for queries and signposting additional resources to affected colleagues.
"It remains our priority to redeploy as many colleagues as possible into vacant internal roles and this will be a key part of our discussions with colleagues. These roles across our Manchester offices, which span multiple teams, will give the majority of those colleagues affected an opportunity to be considered for redeployment should they wish to.
"Verastar remains a key employer across Manchester and, alongside working with a partner with a site offshore, most of our customer facing teams operate out of our UK offices in Sale, Manchester City Centre, Leeds and Glasgow."
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