01FOCI Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 600 Hillsboro, Oregon GM call center jobs to be outsourced TOOLS HILLSBORO, Ore. - A call center in Hillsboro that answers customer service calls for General Motors will close by the summer of 2007, eliminating more than 600 jobs. IBM recently won the contract to operate GM's three U.S. vehicle services call centers. An IBM spokeswoman says the company also plans to close a 400-person call center in Tampa, Florida and they will reduce staff at a 500-person call center in Austin, Texas. A call-center employee told The Oregonian newspaper that officials told employees yesterday that the work would be moved to Canada, Argentina and the Philippines. U.S. companies have been sending call center jobs overseas for years, but Oregon's call center business has been growing. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBear Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 (edited) "Annoyed" wouldn't really describe me well after I read this. I was at the open house to that call center- you can't believe the money, time, and effort involved in opening it. Now we'll send GM customer calls overseas...... This makes sense? What is it here they don't get? Or what is it I don't get? Edited February 21, 2006 by PolarBear Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Doesn't strike me as odd, because that's probably how IBM won the contract in the first place (promising GM a signifigant amount of savings). IBM afterall pioneered 'best-shoring', thus forcing everyone else to follow suit. Back when I worked for EDS it was the same exact thing. GM wanted to cut costs, and by demanding it forced companies like EDS to move call center operations abroad. It does save the customer millions of dollars a year, but it also complicates the communication process. Accents, dialects, and from what I've noticed the inability to deviate from flow charts, are the root cause of most of the frustration with call centers located in Asia. I guess the days of hiring temp services and paying their employees 8.25 an hour isn't good enough nowadays. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
PolarBear Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Doesn't strike me as odd, because that's probably how IBM won the contract in the first place (promising GM a signifigant amount of savings). IBM afterall pioneered 'best-shoring', thus forcing everyone else to follow suit. Back when I worked for EDS it was the same exact thing. GM wanted to cut costs, and by demanding it forced companies like EDS to move call center operations abroad. It does save the customer millions of dollars a year, but it also complicates the communication process. Accents, dialects, and from what I've noticed the inability to deviate from flow charts, are the root cause of most of the frustration with call centers located in Asia. I guess the days of hiring temp services and paying their employees 8.25 an hour isn't good enough nowadays. I guess, from my jaundiced viewpoint, if I wanted to talk to an Asian service rep about my vehicle, I'd just buy an Asian brand in the first place and cut out the middle-man, ya know? Longer term, I think this outsourcing is destroying Ford and GM's case for buying a domestic. Hard to wrap yourself in the flag when you're shipping more jobs overseas than the guys you're calling "Import Brands." Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
630land Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 More of the rich getting richer and anyone else getting poorer. At this point, GM can go bankrupt and I won't care. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
68Cougar Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 More of the rich getting richer and anyone else getting poorer. At this point, GM can go bankrupt and I won't care. And more people are saying that all the time. It's going to bite them in the ass soon enough. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one2gamble Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 Doesn't strike me as odd, because that's probably how IBM won the contract in the first place (promising GM a signifigant amount of savings). IBM afterall pioneered 'best-shoring', thus forcing everyone else to follow suit. IBM's service call center is in Atlanta Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted February 21, 2006 Share Posted February 21, 2006 IBM's service call center is in Atlanta Which service center? Typically major IT companies, especially ones the size of IBM and EDS, have multiple Service Management Centers (or SMCs). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one2gamble Posted February 27, 2006 Share Posted February 27, 2006 Which service center? Typically major IT companies, especially ones the size of IBM and EDS, have multiple Service Management Centers (or SMCs). I dunno, every time I have ever called IBM they have transfered me to Atlanta. Its Thinkpad tech support Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I dunno, every time I have ever called IBM they have transfered me to Atlanta. Its Thinkpad tech support Well that's not even IBM any more its Lenovo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Paul Selby Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I called Fords customer service and the guy sounded like he was from India, guessing that's where my call went. He was no help anyway. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kenp77 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 I guess, from my jaundiced viewpoint, if I wanted to talk to an Asian service rep about my vehicle, I'd just buy an Asian brand in the first place and cut out the middle-man, ya know? Longer term, I think this outsourcing is destroying Ford and GM's case for buying a domestic. Hard to wrap yourself in the flag when you're shipping more jobs overseas than the guys you're calling "Import Brands." YOu are right on PB but just wait a bit and RJ will be here to make an excuse of why this is so wonderful, this country is getting really sad!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
one2gamble Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 Well that's not even IBM any more its Lenovo. The call center hasnt changed, it was Atlanta when it was IBM Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taxman100 Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 My old employer is a very large natural gas utility, and they hired IBM as the outsourcer contractor. Every single call center employee was laid off, and most were not hired by IBM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Michael Reynolds Posted February 28, 2006 Share Posted February 28, 2006 My old employer is a very large natural gas utility, and they hired IBM as the outsourcer contractor. Every single call center employee was laid off, and most were not hired by IBM. That doesn't strike me as odd. There are still quite a few call centers in the US, but you have to be really lucky to get a hold of someone from one of those call centers. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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