T-Mobile closing down 7 call centers, looking to ‘Streamline Operations’

It is never a good thing to hear that one of the top 4 service providers is closing down 7 call centers across the nation. Today T-Mobile announced just that. They are planning to shut down 7 call centers by the end of June, effectively going from 24 centers to 17.  The closure will hit close to home for me personally, as I and used to work for one of the centers scheduled for closure. A total of 3,300 employees will be effected by this move. They plan to offer a chunk of those employees relocation assistance to move to one of the 17 centers that will remain. They are expected to absorb 1,400 of the 3,300 employees.

“Concentrating call centers is an important step to achieve competitive cost structures to successfully compete as Challenger and value player in the wireless market,” said Philipp Humm, CEO and President of T-Mobile.  “These are not easy steps to take, but they are necessary to realize efficiency in order to invest for growth.”

Knowing first hand that the Redmond call center has dropped from around 700 employees to close to 275, I can’t say this is a surprising move. When a facility is operating under half of its staff capabilities and only using part of a building, keeping it open just wastes money. Another interesting fact, from what I recall at least, all 7 of the call centers are primarily retention based centers. Meaning that the saves teams that work to keep you as a customer are headed out the door. Here is the full list of centers on the list of closure –

• Allentown, Pennsylvania
• Fort Lauderdale Florida
• Frisco and Brownsville, Texas
• Lenexa, Kansas
• Thornton, Colorado
• Redmond, Oregon

Severance pay, transition packages and moving options are already being offered to current employees. Much of what is offered will be based on tenure and standings with in the company. Their current position will also play a big factor in it as well. While the news is not good for friends and family that I personally know, they will at least be given 2 months of health coverage paid for by T-Mobile after the center closes.

T-Mobile USA, Inc. announced today it will consolidate its call center operations from 24 to 17 facilities by the end of June.

“Concentrating call centers is an important step to achieve competitive cost structures to successfully compete as Challenger and value player in the wireless market,” said Philipp Humm, CEO and President of T-Mobile.  “These are not easy steps to take, but they are necessary to realize efficiency in order to invest for growth.”

Call centers scheduled for closure are located in: Allentown, Pennsylvania; Fort Lauderdale, Florida; Frisco, Texas; Brownsville, Texas; Lenexa, Kansas; Thornton, Colorado and Redmond, Oregon.

This consolidation effort will result in 1,900 net job reductions. T-Mobile employs approximately 3,300 people at the seven affected facilities. However, the company will begin hiring immediately at the remaining 17 call centers and expects to fill as many as 1,400 positions to continue to meet customer needs. T-Mobile is inviting employees from the seven call centers, planned for closure, to transfer to another facility.  Employees who transfer will be offered relocation assistance.

“We have tremendous customer service representatives who are highly-skilled and dedicated to serving our customers. We hope as many as possible pursue transfers and stay with T-Mobile,” said Larry Myers, Chief People Officer of T-Mobile.

Affected call centers will remain open for three months following today’s announcement and employees will continue to work during this time. Those employees who choose not to transfer to a remaining center, and are employed on the date the center closes, will be offered transition packages including severance pay and outplacement support. T-Mobile is establishing on-site career centers at all seven facilities to provide employees with a personal career coach and access to job search training, tools and technologies.  T-Mobile will pay for two months of continued health care coverage for eligible employees who elect COBRA benefits.

Additionally, T-Mobile will restructure and optimize operations in other parts of the business, which will take place by the end of second quarter of 2012.  Efficiencies resulting from these changes will fuel investments that further strengthen T-Mobile’s competitiveness in the marketplace. Some of these strategic investments – announced in February as part of T-Mobile’s reinvigorated Challenger strategy – include: a $4 billion modernization of its network and the planned launch of Long Term Evolution (LTE) technology in 2013, plans to revitalize the T-Mobile brand, and an investment in 1,000 new business sales positions.