More call-centre job migration

The passage of call center jobs moves inexorably again, and this week Scotland loses some while Canada loses quite a bit.

Air Canada has announced the imminent layoffs of 280 at their call centres and airports across the country beginning in October; over half the job losses will hit Toronto. The announcement came despite reports of near record level profits for the airline, a sticking point for the workers’ union CAW Airline Local 2002. “We’re still working with the union on mitigation measures,” said an Air Canada spokeswoman.

Air Canada representatives blamed the layoffs on the seasonal slowdown in traffic after the summer peak and on the increasing use of the internet to book tickets. A leading call-centre company has announced it will create 350 jobs by the end of the year.

Meanwhile, across the ocean, customer contact service provider BeCogent has announced 350 new jobs to be created before the end of 2006. Erskine, Renfrewshire, Scotland will get the work. BeCogent currently employs 1,800 people across in three locations in Scotland – Lanarkshire, Ayrshire and Erskine. Clients of these UK national customer contact centres for clients include John Lewis, Argos, NTL/Telewest, JD Williams, Traveline Scotland and the National Australia Bank Group.

The beCogent announcement followed by days a warning from insurance firm Aviva stating that they would be losing 450 posts from Scotland’s call centers. Aviva spokespeople, too, blamed an increase on internet shopping for the layoffs. Aviva’s long-term goal, also recently announced, was to shift 1,000 jobs currently based in the UK to overseas locations.