Lower paid, better-educated workers are luring companies to India

The move bucks a trend that has seen Indian companies attract an increasing number of US and European clients.

Lehman said the need to move the help-desk staff back to the US was driven by the need for a real-time service.

However, the firm says it is increasing its overall offshoring policy, and still has about 400 staff in India.

By moving call centres and customer service operations abroad, many companies say they benefit from lower wages and a better-educated workforce.

But some observers have questioned the benefits of moving telephone jobs overseas, saying that issues of accent and regional knowledge may hinder customer service.

Computer maker Dell has already moved some Indian call-centre jobs back to North America.

Various reasons were put forward for Dell's move, including alleged complaints over Indian accents, and problems over solving technical queries over the telephone.

There have also been claims by some analysts the move is a temporary one until more overseas staff are trained. Dell itself has remained silent on the issue.

Operating costs

Despite the signs that some companies are not happy with offshoring, the general trend is still very much to move jobs to India.

In November, British insurance firm Norwich Union told staff it would cut 2,350 jobs in the UK and export the work to India.

Parent firm Aviva said operating costs in India were typically 30-40% lower than in the UK and that the move would also help it provide 24-hour services.

And a report in the Wall Street Journal suggested that IBM is planning to shift 4,700 jobs to countries including India and China.

Although moving jobs overseas may boost profits, it has prompted criticism from unions and politicians.