15 Companies Announce Massive Call Center Expansions in Q1 2019

Companies added over 32,000 call center jobs in the first quarter of 2019 as the call center industry continues to hang in there with stable growth. This growth is evidence that the call center industry remains extremely active and an important part of the global workforce despite headwinds from various technology advances such as artificial intelligence that many people believe will slow down the call center industry’s job growth. To help understand which industries and companies are bucking the trend, Site Selection Group identified 15 companies that made major call center expansion announcements at over 65 new and existing call center sites during the first few months of 2019.

Call center site selection criteria remain consistent

Companies have so many site selection strategies to consider which creates many challenges for decisionmakers controlling where the jobs will be placed. The common site selection factors utilized will vary depending if it is an onshore versus offshore project. The primary location criteria to consider include the following:

• Population
• Labor force
• Unemployment
• Targeted age groups
• Targeted household income levels
• Employees in the service sector
• Bilingual capabilities
• College students and graduates
• Military personnel and spouses
• Number of existing call center employees
• Call center saturation rate
• Existing call center employers
• Geopolitical risk factors
• Natural disaster risks
• Business and tax climate
• Accessibility
• Real estate availability and costs
• Cost of utilities
• Economic incentive availability
• Availability and cost of telecommunications
• Governmental support

15 major global call center expansion announcements in Q1

It is important to follow where companies are expanding as it allows you to identify the latest site selection trends. The following 15 companies made some big announcements which will hopefully lead to a good year in global call center job creation.

Atento

Atento announced they would be opening two new call centers with 2,000 employees in Mexico City.  Located in Centro Histórico and the Azafrán neighborhood, the call centers are their fifth and sixth sites in Mexico City and their 16^thwithin Mexico.

ERC

ERC announced the opening of a new call center in the Dominican Republic's capital. The 52,500 square foot facility will be located in San Isidro Free Trade Park. The new site is set to bring 1,000 new jobs to the area.

Global Telesourcing

Global Telesourcing, which has significant operations in Monterrey, Mexico, has announced the expansion of 550 jobs in the region.

iQor

iQor, one of the largest call center business process outsourcers in the Philippines, announced plans create 5,000 jobs through the expansion of its existing seven call centers and the opening of two new sites in Clark and Iloilo.

Lending Club

Lending Club announced an 816-employee expansion in Lehi, Utah, with an estimated capital investment of $17.85 million over the next 10 years.

MCI

MCI announced plans to save approximately 500 jobs in Sydney, Nova Scotia, after the acquisition of a company in bankruptcy. MCI is the holding company owned by the call center mastermind, Anthony Marlow, who has quietly built a small call center empire of companies including Mass Markets, OnBrand24 and Sydney Call Centre.

Transparent BPO

Transparent BPO, one the largest companies operating in Belize, is adding a new center with 465 employees in Belize City. The new site will bring its total capacity in Belize to around 1,300 seats.

PayPal

PayPal announced a new 1,000-employee site in Alabang, Philippines. The expansion of PayPal in the Philippines with an in-house operation exemplifies how the Philippines has moved up the food chain beyond only attracting business process outsourcing firms.

PRA Group

Leading debt buyer, PRA Group, has announced they are taking over the former Telvista call center in Danville, Virginia, and creating 500 new jobs. PRA Group opened another 500-employee collection center in Burlington, North Carolina last year.

Progressive Insurance

Progressive Insurance announced the planned creation of 6,255 new call center jobs across six of its existing sites. The expansions included the addition of 1,100 employees in Colorado Springs, Colorado, 2,000 in Cleveland, 1,500 in Tampa, 1,000 in Austin, Texas, 380 in Sacramento, California, and 275 in Phoenix.

Sonic Automotive

Sonic Automotive, one of the largest auto dealers, has announced plans to create 500 jobs and make a $11.2 million capital investment for a new national customer service center in Lowell, North Carolina.

Sitel

Sitel, one of the largest global business process outsourcers, announced the creation of 800 jobs at a new 58,744-square-foot call center facility in Lanarkshire, UK.

Startek

Startek is taking a bigger stake in Honduras with a 1,000-employee site in Tegucigalpa. This is its third site in the country bringing Startek’s employee count to over 2,200 there. Its other location is in San Pedro Sula.

T-Mobile

T-Mobile has made some announcements with major expansion plans in Overland Park, Kansas, and Rochester, New York.

Telus International

Telus International’s business process outsourcing division announced a major expansion of 5,000 jobs in the Philippines and another 500 at a multilingual site in Bucharest, Romania.

Wayfair

The e-commerce giant, Wayfair, has announced a new call center in Springfield, Oregon, with 600 employees and another call center in Pittsfield, Massachusetts. These announcements come on the heel of another announcement in Elmira, New York, in October 2018.