The call center market can be a bit fickle at times. While there are some communities that are having to deal with a call center in their area shutting down, other towns are welcoming a business that is looking to add to its workforce. This is a seemingly daily occurrence around the U.S., with centers like the one in Charlotte, NC, shutting down while one in Harlingen, Texas, is looking to add more than 200 employees.
The Valley Morning Star reports that Qualifon, a call center company that specializes in global business process outsourcing, will be opening a call center in Harlingen that will provide jobs to more than 200 people. In exchange for bringing its business to the small Texas town, the company is going to be receiving several hundred thousand dollars in economic incentives.
The agreement between the town and Qualifon will bring in 227 jobs in the initial hiring phase. Twenty-seven of those employees will be in the management and information technology fields while the other 200 will be the call center agents who are actually engaging with customers. Qualifon says the number of people working at the new call center could grow to as many as 400 by the end of the second year of operation.
Harlingen appears to be trying to set itself as a mecca for call centers in Texas much the same way Sacramento is transforming itself in California. The agreement between the company and the city means the number of call centers in the area is now sitting at five and Harlingen hopes to bring more jobs of this kind to town over the next couple of years.
Qualifon says most of the jobs at the new call center will range between $9 and $13 an hour and the payroll for the firm in its first year will approach about $5.3 million.
Edited by Rory J. Thompson