Call center staff Honolulu employees of Genesys Conferencing will likely have few problems finding further employment in the industry, according to Margie Medalle, chief executive officer for Genesys' North American operations.
still in demand
Other companies have expressed an
interest in Genesys' site and employeesBy Lyn Danninger
ldanninger@starbulletin.comThe call center notified the state Department of Labor on Thursday that it will lay off about 100 people.
"I'm in discussion with two companies on the mainland who are very interested in acquiring our space and potentially hiring our employees," she said. Medalle declined to identify the firms.
In addition, a job fair organized in conjunction with the Hawaii Call Centers Association is scheduled for Nov. 14, Medalle said. The association's President, Kevin Johnson, said there are a number of companies in Honolulu looking to hire as many as 200 workers in the next several months.
Genesys' Honolulu office is one of several call centers that have closed in the last year in Hawaii. Others include Federal Express, Hawaiian Wireless, Sprint PCS and WorldPoint. But by the same token, others are expanding, Medalle and Johnson said.
Local call center layoffs relate more to national companies consolidating to reduce redundancy, Johnson said.
"Of the ones shutting down, the majority are regional call centers of large corporations. Hawaii tends to have smaller call centers, they're the easiest to close," he said.
Johnson estimates about 4,000 people are employed locally by about 70 call centers.
"Last year we lost as many as we grew by, but surprisingly, 2002 is a growth year," he said.
The upcoming Genesys layoffs relate to the introduction of Web-based automated teleconferencing services in North America, Medalle said.
While the technology had been in use in Genesys' European and Pacific/Asia offices for a while, it was only about three years ago that it was introduced in North America, she said. The new technology requires no operator assistance. Teleconferencing can be arranged online directly between parties.
As the technology has caught on, there has been less need for operator assistance.
Genesys also has purchased a number of conferencing companies in the last two years and has been in the process of consolidating offices, Medalle said. The company has about 800 employees in the United States at its two remaining centers, she said. Worldwide, it employs about 1,500 people and has 25 locations in 18 countries.
Earlier this year, Genesys closed call centers in Bedford, Mass., Denver, Co., and Montgomery, Ala., leaving its remaining call centers in Minnesota, Virginia and Hawaii. The Honolulu call center was Genesys' first U.S. acquisition, but, being the smallest, was the easiest center for the company to close, she said.
The company was caught off guard with how quickly automated conferencing services caught on in the United States and had just taken on additional employees, she said. Earlier this year, Medalle said the Honolulu office increased its staff from 70 to almost 130.
"When we closed our Montgomery, Al., office the traffic moved here so we hired around 50 people at the time. We didn't anticipate the decline in operator assistance," she said.
Automated web conferencing can offer companies significant savings Medalle said.
"It's probably about a 20 percent savings, so for our Fortune 500 and other large companies that do millions of minutes each month, it's a big savings," she said.