NCO Cuts 175 Jobs at Canadian Call Center

Accounts receivable management and business process outsourcing giant NCO Group laid off around 40 percent of its workforce this week at a call center in British Columbia, Canada.

The BC Government and Service Employees' Union (BCGEU), a group representing the workers at the call center, said Tuesday that the employees were “technical service representatives” at NCO’s Surrey, B.C. office, in the outskirts of Vancouver.

A spokesperson for NCO confirmed the layoffs and said that the workers were engaged in customer relationship management (CRM) services.

The BCGEU statement noted that it will still represent some 255 workers at the office after the layoffs.
 
"There is no good time for a layoff announcement to be made, but hearing the week before Christmas that you will be losing your job is especially rough for our members and their families," said BCGEU President Darryl Walker.

Walker notes that as union members the workers are entitled to and will receive 60 days paid notice, and that should vacancies open or NCO create more positions - their union recall rights mean members will be first in line for job openings.

The BCGEU also said that it was assured NCO had done everything in its power to minimize the job losses. “We appreciate that this company continues to actively seek new contracts that will create more employment opportunities,” Walker said in the statement.

NCO Group is one of the largest ARM firms in the world, employing more than 30,000 people worldwide. The company has offices in 12 locations in Canada. The CRM division of the company accounted for $91.7 million of NCO’s total third quarter 2008 revenue of $381 million.