London, November 20:

As many as 180,000 British financial services jobs could be located in low-cost bases such as India and South Africa by the end of this decade, according to a survey by professional consultancy firm Deloitte.

The survey report says many firms that are offshoring jobs may find that the cost savings are temporary, but the trend is unlikely to stop soon. Deloitte questioned 62 global banks and insurers for the report.

According to the survey, high-performing financial institutions offshore 6.7 per cent of their global headcount. If all the 62 financial institutions surveyed in the report were to send 6.7 per cent of their staff offshore, it could cut their collective annual cost base by nine billion pounds, compared with current savings of 2.8 billion pounds.

India remains the top offshore destination, with all the firms surveyed having an operation there. About 40 per cent of the British firms have a second centre outside India. “China, Mexico, Costa Rica and South Africa are also emerging as destinations.”