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Layoffs hit Boca call center
(South Florida Sun-Sentinel (KRT) Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Apr. 22--Office Depot Inc., the nation's second largest office supply retailer, laid off more than 100 customer service employees at its Boca Raton call center this week as part of an ongoing strategy to consolidate its call center operations and cut costs.
The company's spokesman said it does not have specific plans to close the Boca center, where about 300 employees currently work. A call center in Norcross, Ga. and "outside partners," he said, will absorb some of the work.
That's little consolation for employees who are losing their jobs.
"All of a sudden we get called in [Wednesday] and over 100 employees were given a pink slip," said Michael Colton, a former account manager at the call center who quit Thursday after giving one month's notice. "Everyone was distraught and nobody wanted to work. ... We felt betrayed. People were literally crying out on the floor."
The Fortune 500 company announced in October 2004 that it would begin outsourcing various employee functions to third parties and expanding its use of virtual call centers, a setup where employees work from their homes. Those practices have long been popular among large corporations that are looking for ways to cut costs and increase productivity. For Office Depot, the plan was expected to save the company about $15 million each year.
Office Depot has since consolidated or closed eight of its 10 call centers. About 900 workers have been affected, although some employees transferred to other positions within the company, its outside partners or took advantage of the work-at-home option.
The consolidation strategy is just one example of how Office Depot is constantly "rebalancing" divisions of its business to drive profitable growth for its shareholders, spokesman Brian Levine said.
For example, the company also is hiring more than 100 business development managers to support expanding sales efforts of the company's North American Business Solutions Division and is filling more than 100 open and newly created positions at its headquarters, he said.
As part of this week's layoffs, some employees will qualify for severance packages or placement elsewhere in the company, the company spokesman said. But that's no comfort to hourly workers at the Boca center.
Employees there say they were never notified about Office Depot's long-range plans to eliminate traditional call centers. They only began to worry that the company was considering layoffs when workers from West Corp., a leading outsourcing company, came to the call center a couple of weeks ago and job-shadowed them.
"Management told people, 'Look, you don't need to worry about your job,'" said Colton.
Colton, who joined Office Depot last July, said he had planned to stay with the company until retirement.
It wasn't until the company started demanding increased productivity from telephone account management workers in early 2006 and did not clearly establish performance goals, he said, that he started to consider other options.
Bonuses, which comprised a large chunk (about $1,500) of account managers' monthly pay, hinged on meeting performance goals, he said. But since employees weren't given a clear understanding of new accounts, they kept missing performance objectives and their bonuses suffered, he said.
Colton said his earnings suffered so dramatically from the changes that he decided to quit and pursue other employment.
"The morale is so low, it's scary," Colton said.
That's directly in contrast to what Office Depot Chairman and CEO Steve Odland said earlier this month.
"Morale is quite high in the company," Odland said. "There's a sense of certainty about where we're going, and they want to be part of a winning team."
Jaclyn Giovis can be reached at jmgiovis@sun-sentinel.com or 954-356-4668.
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