At least 400 more people are slated to lose their jobs at Chrysler LLC as the automaker outsources computer technology work -- part of a cost-saving plan to streamline Chrysler's information technology department.

The process will start immediately though some workers may not depart until the third quarter.

Chrysler has finalized contracts with India-based Tata Consultancy Services and Virginia-based Computer Sciences Corp. to take over maintenance and support operations for internal employees, Chrysler Vice President and Chief Information Officer Jan Bertsch said in an interview today.

The move will allow Chrysler to invest more in advanced technology and expand its overseas reach as costs for routine operations will be greatly reduced, she said. The service contracts are valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, but Chrysler would not release details.

In outsourcing the work, Chrysler's 2,100-person IT department will shrink dramatically. About 200 of Chrysler's 1,000 salaried technology workers will lose their jobs. The balance of the layoffs will come from the ranks of 1,100 contract workers in that department. They will leave in greater numbers, Bertsch said, but she didn't offer specifics.

Some affected employees may be hired by Tata or Computer Sciences, she said, but some work will be moved entirely off-site.

The outsourcing and job losses are part the Chrysler's three-year Recovery and Transformation Plan first announced in February 2007. That plan, which was updated in November, calls for the elimination of 3,000 salaried positions and 25,000 jobs overall.

Bertsch said the transformation plan also requires the more efficient operation of all company departments, including information technology.

Previously, technology budgets have been bogged down by routine tasks, leaving little funds to invest in advance technology.

"We are an auto manufacturer, we don't have the same scale and expertise that (technology firms) do," she said.

Tata Consultancy Services, a division of the Tata Group and Computer Sciences, will service hardware and manage applications for functions ranging from product development to sales and marketing. Chrysler continues to run business analysis, customer-facing operations and other key technical areas.

Tata and Computer Sciences, which service clients worldwide, are also in a better position to support Chrysler's growing overseas operations, Bertsch said.

"The companies have global deliver capacity and can easily invest more in new technology," she said. Top executives have said growing Chrysler sales, manufacturing and engineering presence in developing countries is essential to returning the company to profitability.