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DXC slashes meal allowances for travelling troops: Please sir, may I have some more?

Watch the client eat (smallish) steak as you munch on bread roll

In the pursuit of ways to further squeeze its overheads, DXC Technologies has issued a fresh directive to the troops by further clipping travel costs and capping client entertainment.

This is a tightening of previous rules instigated by the powers that be at DXC in May – the outsourcing provider is seeking to slash its expenses bill by $1bn this year.

In a fresh document sent to personnel in the UK and Ireland - seen by us - DXC delivered the welcome news that staff travelling domestically will now have an extra £5 knocked off their daily meal allowance.

“When travelling in the UK or Ireland, the daily meal allowance has an upper limit of £30 (UK) and €36 (Ireland), broken out as £10/ €12 breakfast and £20/ €24 evening meal,” the missive stated.

For any one staffer on the road outside of Blighty, the international rate allowance, in line with the Global Travel, Expense and Reimbursement Policy, is the equivalent to $70 a day (£53.39).

Receipts are no longer needed for expenses under £45 that are charged to an American Express card but anything above that level or any expenses not paid for by the Amex still require “itemised receipts”.

The good news for restaurant staff is that “service provider tips that are appropriate and of a modest level may be reimbursed. Please enter as ’Tips’ in the Concur internal system".

In business trip situations where staff eat together, the most senior member will need to pay the bill, the document added.

“Tight is not the word,” one DXC contact said of the latest squeeze.

As for taking clients on expensive jollies to The Fat Duck, or god forbid, to a sleazy strip joint, DXC is “adopting caps” that are “consistent with other professional services organisations”. The grunts are allowed to splash up to £45 per person and a director or “senior principal” has £64 per person to wine and dine them in finer surroundings.

“Expenses must be submitted promptly; and any submissions later than 60 days may not be reimbursed,” DXC’s letter confirmed.

Brits abroad on one- to two-year assignments will need to get prior approval from sector, account and finance bosses before they can claim Foreign and Commonwealth Office per diem rates.

Indian workers who are temporarily based in the UK for project work, and who are receiving a per diem rate of £15 will need prior approval from the three managers, as above.

For anyone who’s been living in a remote part of the world this year, has now returned and is reading this article, DXC was born from an unholy alliance between CSC and HPE’s outsourcing business.

The pair came together in April when staff were urged to join the fun on the first day by coming into work in monochrome corporate colours. The more daring among the workforce were urged to come in wearing fancy dress - zebras or a Dalmatian dog.

DXC started as it meant to go: chopping costs. It is consolidating office space by closing some branches in the UK, consolidating data centre space globally, consolidating the vendor portfolio, offshoring jobs to cheaper wage locations, using more automation, squeezing suppliers’ margins to help boost its own and closing financial salary pensions for ex-HPE ES employees. ®

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