News Release Archive
ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT/TOURISM--AT&T CANADA TO EMPLOY 1,000
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AT&T Canada today announced plans to open a new call centre in
the Halifax area that will create 1,000 full-and part-time jobs
over the next two years. This new $9 million facility, due to
open in early 1998, is an integral part of AT&T Canada Solutions
Customer Care's commitment to quality service for their Canadian
business partners.
"This is great news for the province," said Premier Russell
MacLellan. "AT&T Canada Solutions' investment in our region is a
vote of confidence in our workforce and technological expertise
that will continue to position our province at the forefront of
the booming call centre industry."
"The province is proud to partner with AT&T Canada," said Manning
MacDonald, Minister of Economic Development and Tourism.
"Together, we're making a significant investment to ensure Nova
Scotians can share in the opportunities associated with this new
call centre."
That partnership includes a provincial investment of 12 per cent
of AT&T Canada's annual payroll. The amount of the initial
investment will be about $2 million, the majority of which will
be used to recruit and train new employees. This compares with an
initial $9 million capital investment by AT&T Canada and annual
operating costs of about $35 million.
"This initiative is another example of AT&T Canada's commitment
to investing and creating jobs in Canada," said James Meenan,
president and chief executive officer of AT&T Canada Enterprises
Inc. "The Halifax Regional Municipality and the province of Nova
Scotia offer an excellent business environment, a highly educated
and competent workforce, a sophisticated telecommunications
infrastructure and a healthy and affordable lifestyle. These were
all factors in AT&T Canada's decision to open its second Canadian
call centre in Halifax."
As the company hires more employees, the provincial investment
will increase correspondingly. With a workforce of 1,000 people,
the province will invest an additional $2.5 million in each of
years two, three, four and five, up to about $12 million by the
end of the fifth year.
"The spectacular growth in the call centre industry in Canada has
been a valuable spinoff of the growth of open competition in
Canadian telecommunications," said federal Industry Minister John
Manley who attended today's event in Halifax. "Thousands of
Canadians are now gainfully employed in an industry which barely
existed just a few years ago."
The Halifax facility will provide telephone- and Internet-based
customer care services to help businesses acquire new customers
and improve relationships with existing ones.
"Our corporate vision is to be recognized as the number one
worldwide customer and employee care company," said Monica Mehan,
president and chief executive officer of AT&T Solutions Customer
Care. "Our future centre in Halifax will play a key role in
fulfilling that vision."
The types of jobs will range from high-tech software
troubleshooting and customer service to telemarketing. The
combination of full- and part-time jobs will be the equivalent of
800 full-time positions. Specific applications include customer
inquiries and product support, help desk support, lead generation
programs, dealer locator programs and customer information
analysis.
"Today's announcement by AT&T Canada Solutions to base its new
state-of-the-art call centre in Atlantic Canada will create
important jobs for this area's highly qualified workforce through
innovation and investment in Canada's telecommunications
industry," said Senator Al Graham, who also attended.
"Our clients benefit from our strong track-record in customer
care which in turn improves profitability, sustains competitive
advantage, builds customer loyalty and frees up our Canadian
business partners to concentrate on their core competencies,"
said David Keating, vice-president and general manager of AT&T
Canada Solutions.
The call centre will be equipped with advanced information
technology management to provide customized solutions for each
client and will operate 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
Growth in the call centre industry is also evident in Edmundston,
New Brunswick where AT&T Canada Long Distance Services has
doubled its call centre operation, from 40 to 80 people, since it
opened last year. There are eight other call centres across the
country within the AT&T Canada family, that employ an additional
1,450 people.
AT&T Canada Enterprises Inc. is a full-service telecommunications
provider offering customers more choice by delivering superior
customer service, technical innovation and global reach, through
partnerships with Canadian companies.
To find out more about employment opportunities at AT&T Canada
Solutions in Halifax, interested applicants should call
1-888-227-3312. To learn more about AT&T Canada Solutions
Customer Care, visit their web site at http://www.attcanada.ca/
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Contact: Rick Alexander
Economic Development and Tourism
902-424-8922
Ian Dale
vice-president, public relations
AT&T Canada Enterprises Inc.
416-204-2773
Carol Panasiuk/Lucie Caron
Cohn & Wolfe
416-924-5700
trp July 31, 1997 - 11:36 a.m.
