Outsourcing faulted in call center layoffs

Operators: Internet-based relays are to be sent through the Philippines

By CHRISTINA SALERNO
csalerno@modbee.com

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RIVERBANK -- Layoff notices were distributed starting Friday to employees of a relay call center for the deaf that is scaling back operations.

GoAmerica Inc. announced last week it is making the cuts because it blocked international calls, resulting in a drop in the center's call volume.

The service is for domestic use only, and employees said many of those international calls originated from Nigeria, where scammers would use the system to try to defraud U.S. businesses and residents.

The taxpayer-funded service is used by the deaf, speech-impaired and those who are hard of hearing to relay phone conversations.

At least a half-dozen employees said that while fraud had been a serious problem for years and made up a significant percentage of their calls, it's not the only reason call volume has dropped. They also blame outsourcing to the Philippines.

GoAmerica subcontracts the operation and staffing of the 700-employee Riverbank center to Stellar Nordia, a Canadian company with corporate offices in several countries that specializes in outsourcing. Stellar Nordia describes itself on its Web site as a "a leading global provider of call center and business process outsourcing solutions."

It operates 18 "outsourcing centers" around the world that employ more than 6,000 people. In October, Stellar Nordia said in a news release that it was ramping up hiring at a call center in the Philippines. It said it planned to hire 100 people a month at a facility in Manila until it reached 1,100.

Employees in Riverbank said they were told in presentations that all Internet-based relay calls are being transferred to a center in the Philippines. Those include relay calls placed through Web sites, instant messaging and cell-phone-accessed Internet relay, they said.

All that will remain in Riverbank are 150 to 200 operators to handle California Relay Serv- ices and Spanish translation services, which operate under a contract with the state, employees said.

Not all relay calls are placed through the Internet. Relay callers can use TTY, or text telephones, that have a keyboard and allow users to type their conversations using two-way text.

The company has not con- firmed the number of layoffs or whether it is outsourcing Internet-relay calls.

"As for the Philippines, there is the possibility that traffic will shift to that center, but we have not made any formal announcement regarding a shift as of yet," said GoAmerica spokesman Thomas Rozycki in an e-mail Thursday.

Employee Mari Adwar, 21, said although the fraudulent calls needed to be blocked, the layoffs would have been less severe in Riverbank if the company didn't outsource the remaining traffic.

"It's frustrating to see so many people be jobless, because our economy is at an all-time low," she said. "It isn't making anything better by sending jobs overseas."

Another major employer in the region, the Hershey Co., recently closed its Oakdale chocolate factory because it is shifting some production to a new plant in Monterrey, Mexico.

Jobs at the Riverbank center paid a starting wage of $10 an hour and included two weeks' paid vacation, sick time, health insurance, tuition reimbursement and other benefits. Employees will receive a 60-day layoff notice and a severance package of six weeks of pay.

Adwar said she is moving soon because of college, but she is concerned about hundreds of her co-workers who will be flooding the job market during a tough economic climate.

"People could still be laid off, but not as many," she said.

The Riverbank call center has changed hands five times since opening in 1996. It previously was owned by Verizon and sold to GoAmerica last month. The relay service is funded by a surcharge of about 10 to 15 cents a month on all phone bills and is regulated by the Federal Communications Commission.

Bee staff writer Christina Salerno can be reached at csalerno@modbee.com or 238-4574.