UK firms will increasingly set up their call centres in India because UK staff are not skilled enough, according to a survey of the sector by the recruitment agency Adecco.

It estimates that UK firms will create about 100,000 jobs overseas during the next five years.

Of nearly 150 call centre operators questioned, 60% said they would be most likely to move their operations to India, with South Africa coming second.

However, the number of UK workers earning their living in call centres will continue to grow rapidly.

By 2008, the sector is likely to employ 600,000 people in the UK compared to 400,000 now, the survey suggests.

Low skills

But the problem of skills shortages appears to be getting worse.

Top 10 towns for UK call centres

Harrogate Fareham Dunfermline Crewe Carlisle Gateshead Warrington Doncaster Northwich Cheadle Source: Adecco

Nearly all of those questioned - 93% - reported trouble hiring well-trained staff, compared with 77% when Adecco last surveyed the sector two years ago.

At present about half of all staff working in call centres in the UK have "no qualifications at all", said Kelly Bains, the company's director of call centre development.

By contrast, in India there is no shortage of graduates and even MBAs applying for call centre jobs, Mr Bains told BBC Radio 5 Live.

"Clearly cost is an important issue, but it's not just about cost. It's about the quality of the work," he said.

Better qualifications

The industry is also dogged by high staff turnover, which in turn lowers the quality of service received by customers phoning call centres.

More than a fifth of call centre operators said they were losing more than 40% of their staff a year.

Many left within three months of starting the job.

The UK's contract centre workforce has to improve to compete, according to Mr Bains.

"That means getting qualifications in customer handling and systems," he said.

Moving jobs to Bombay

"As many as 25,000 jobs that could be based in the UK are bound to go overseas in the next 12 months," said Richard MacMillan, Adecco managing director.

"If the UK wants to keep these jobs we have to look at getting our workers better skilled," he said.

Insurance firm Prudential is the latest UK company to transfer work to India.

It plans to cut 850 UK jobs and transfer the work to Bombay (Mumbai) in order to save �16m a year by 2006.