10/28/16 — AT&T call center closes after flood damage

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AT&T call center closes after flood damage

By Rochelle Moore
Published in News on October 28, 2016 9:57 AM

Hurricane-related flood damage and declining business led to a company decision to permanently close the AT&T call center, on U.S. 117 South, and lay off nearly 95 employees.

The center, at 2441 U.S. 117, sustained severe flood damage and has been closed since Oct. 10, said Marty Richter, AT&T corporate spokesperson. A decision to permanently close the Goldsboro center was made Monday, and company officials notified the state Department of Commerce with a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification.

"This was a difficult decision, and we're completely focused on providing several good options for our employees," Richter said.

Each employee has received an offer of employment at other AT&T call centers, in Fayetteville, Greensboro, Charlotte, Florida and Texas, Richter said. Employees will also be given a $10,000 relocation allowance.

"We have talented employees, and we sincerely hope they'll seriously consider their options to stay with us," he said.

Employees have continued to receive pay since the call center closed on Oct. 10. Pay and benefits will continue through Jan. 3, the first date of separation in AT&T's WARN notice to the state. Following Jan. 3, employees who decide to leave the company will receive a $7,500 transition relief payment and 10 weeks of severance pay, Richter said.

The company is also providing outplacement services. The Department of Commerce is offering help through its rapid response early intervention programs that provide transitional services, job connections, funding resource information and specialized assistance.

The company layoffs affect 78 customer assistants, seven Internet assistants, one manager, seven technical customer service managers and one attendance analyst, according to the WARN notice.

The AT&T call center opened on U.S. 117 in 2008 and employed nearly 400 workers in its earlier years. The call center, which supports DSL Internet service accounts, has continued to experience declining business, which contributed to the decision to permanently close the facility, Richter said.

"While we're adding people in many parts of our business where we're seeing increased customer demand for products and services, in other areas demand for our legacy services continues to decline," Richter said.

"That's the case at this call center. Call volume had been declining significantly for some time and was expected to continue. So, we have decided to consolidate work that was done in the center into other company locations with unused capacity."

There are no current plans for another AT&T call center in Goldsboro, Richter said.

Mayor Chuck Allen, who learned about the closing late last week, said the company's workforce has continued to decline and a future closing was already anticipated.

"I think this was coming," Allen said. "This was a matter of timing. Every day, we try to create an environment to do business. Any job loss is important to me, but some things are beyond our control.

"It's sad, but I don't think there's anything we can do to fix it or change it."