Management speak is sometimes confusing. Imagine your boss coming in one day and saying, “Hi guys, we’re having a re-alignment of our service strategy”. This is what happened in the Orange Call Centre at Peterlee recently. Translated this basically means “We’re closing this call centre”.
Although Orange are planning to offer all 900 employees bus-rides to one of their other call centres in Darlington or Silverlink in North Tyneside, it will inevitably lead to jobs being lost as people choose to quit rather than travel an extra distance every day. The move is part of a cost-saving plan to cut around 1800 jobs from the 13500 currently employed by Orange in the UK. They’re also removing 100 jobs in Solihull, West Midlands but – and this is what’s caused fury with some Union Leaders – Orange are taking on an extra 300 staff in their Indian Call Centre.
However, the official line from the Communication Workers Union states that “It is not about losing jobs to India” because “Indian call centre workers were protesting this week at their jobs being outsourced because their labour has now become ‘too expensive’. When will the madness end?”
Link – iCNewcastle
Orange Call Centres to close
July 30, 2006