The Finance Sector Union (FSU) says Suncorp is aiming to send at least 50 jobs offshore to India, but the company insists the figure is closer to 20.

FSU Acting National Secretary Chris Gambian says Suncorp managers told the union at a briefing the number of jobs being offshored will be 50, but Suncorp External Communications Manager Commercial Insurance Rob White says the figure is “more in the vicinity of 20”.

“They’re definitely not claims roles – these will be back-office roles,” Mr White told insuranceNEWS.com.au.

Mr Gambian says it’s “cold comfort whether these roles are customer-facing claims roles or back-office claims payment roles. This is just the beginning of large-scale offshoring by Suncorp.”

He says Suncorp hopes that by offshoring jobs that don’t deal directly with the public there will be less customer reaction.

Mr White says Suncorp is actually employing extra staff in Australia.

“We’ve just taken on 100 new customer-facing roles and we won’t be reducing them – we’re keeping them,” he said.