NO LOVE AT SYKES (01/29/21)

JANUARY 29, 2021 — BOISE, IDAHO CALL CENTER CLOSING WIH 380 LAYOFFS

The company has announced that it will close its Boise, Idaho call center by the end of March and layoff 380 employees as the company transitions to a virtual (work-at-home) business model.

JULY 2, 2019 — 179 CALL CENTER EMPLOYEES IN KENTUCKY TO BE LAID OFF.

The company has announced the permanent layoff of 179 employees at its Chavies, Kentucky call center following the loss of a major client.

It also appears that the company is moving toward a virtual call center environment which means that brick-and-mortar structures will be downsized,

JULY 11, 2018 — 640 EMPLOYEES LAID OFF AT BOISE, IDAHO CALL CENTER

Tampa, Florida-based Sykes Enterprises, a multinational provider of business process outsourcing has announced the layoff of 640 employees, mostly customer service representatives, and their supervisors, at its Boise, Idaho call center.

As with most providers of contracted services, it should come as no surprise that the company will periodically adjust its staffing to meet the customer’s contractual requirements. It is believed that the layoff can be linked to the company’s contract to supply call services to Capital One Bank. And, in an unusual move, the company requested the presence of local police officers at the time of the announcement. 

According to the company’s spokesperson, “SYKES had some ‘client changes with their specific business needs’ that prompted the layoffs. SYKES will remain open with business on other accounts and are doing everything we can to help employees impacted by this decision. Those affected were provided 60 days’ pay and benefits to provide them time to adjust and seek other employment. We are actively looking to bring new business to our center in Boise and continue to provide new career opportunities for residents of the Boise metro area." 

Change is coming. There will always be a tomorrow, no matter how much you may try to ignore it. There are no guarantees in life or promises for a bright future. Just because something bad hasn't happened yet, doesn't mean it won't. It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere. No one is guaranteed to wake up tomorrow and still have a job by evening. Are you now wondering, Am I Next?

NO LOVE AT NORTHROP GRUMMAN (08/16/24)

AUGUST 16, 2024 — 550 CALIFORNIANS TARGETED

In another round of layoffs, the company is targeting up to 550 employees in its aerospace facilities in Redondo Beach and Manhattan Beach, California.

JUNE 10, 2024 — 543 EMPLOYEES IN CHANDLER, ARIZONA

According to a company spokesperson, "We have provided all potentially impacted employees with advanced notice and have begun the process of working to match them with existing opportunities across the company. These efforts are ongoing and we expect a higher number of employees will receive WARN notices than may ultimately be impacted."

MAY 13, 2024 —1,000 EMPLOYEES IN REDONDO BEACH

Northrop Grumman plans to lay off up to 1,000 employees at its facilities in Redondo Beach, Manhattan Beach, and Azusa, California.

It has been rumored that the personnel realignment may be linked to a recently canceled multibillion-dollar U.S. Space Force program to develop a classified military communications satellite after cost overruns, a schedule delay, and development difficulties.

APRIL 23, 2022 — 120 WORKERS IN LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA

According to a company spokesperson, “the company notified the 120 workers on Tuesday that May 5, 2022, will be their last day. The layoffs are a result of the U.S. Air Force’s decision to retire the Joint STARS fleet which was a pretty big chunk of the work we did here. The fleet will be in service through 2024.”

JUNE 29, 2018 — Original post…

Northrop Grumman will be laying off 350 employees at the Commonwealth of Virginia’s data center in Chester, Virginia.

The layoff decision is based on the Commonwealth of Virginia’s decision to terminate Northrop Grumman’s multi-year, multi-billion, sole-source contract one year early due to a contentious relationship between Northrop Grumman and the Virginia Information Technology Agency (VITA) which oversees the provision of IT services to the state’s 63 agencies. 

It is not known how many of these employees may be rehired by SAIC (Science Applications International Corp.) who will serve as one of Virginia’s new contractors for supplying and coordinating IT services. 

According to Northrop Grumman’s spokeswoman, Jenna Gregory, the layoffs were due to the VITA’s decision to terminate the contract. “As a result of VITA’s decision to issue on May 18, 2018 an early termination notice of the contract between Northrop Grumman and the Commonwealth of Virginia, Northrop Grumman issued a Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notice (WARN) to state officials on Thursday, June 14. ,” noting that Northrop Grumman is “undertaking efforts to place impacted employees in other positions.”

The contract, legally contentious at times, was terminated one-year prior to its expiration. It appears that Northrop Grumman sued VITA for $10 million for an alleged breach of contract and VITA countersues with a $300 million claim for alleged poor performance. The case is still pending and is most likely to be solved at the expense of Virginia’s taxpayers who are expected to pick up the approximately $67 million costs to wind-down contracted operations. Optimistically,VITA believes that these costs may be recaptured from its new vendors. Unlikely since any such recovery is simply added to the taxpayer’s tab.
 

NO LOVE AT CONVERGYS (UPDATED)

UPDATE: APRIL 9, 2019 ADDITIONAL LAYOFFS IN TUCSON, ARIZONA

The company has filed a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice indicating a layoff of 785 employees at its West Tucson, Arizona call center. The decision was driven by the restructuring after Concentrix acquired Convergys and its Tucson operation.

UPDATE: OCTOBER 31, 2018 CONVERGYS BUYER ANNOUNCES KENTUCKY LAYOFFS

Convergys was be sold in October 2018 to Fremont, California-based business process services company Synnex Corporation in a deal valued at an estimated $2.8 billion. Convergys will be combined with Synnex’s Concentrix subsidiary.

Concentrix has announced the permanent closure of one product line for an unspecified client that will result in the layoff off up to 258 employees in its Erlanger, Kentucky contact center.

Original post…

There are few businesses riskier for employees than a centralized call center whose variable staffing depends on its contractual obligations.

For the second time this year, Ohio-based Convergys has filed a WARN (Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification) notice that covers 107 employees at the Rio Rancho, New Mexico call center on the heels of another WARN notice for 151 employees approximately two months prior.

Both were filed after the loss of separate clients. Convergys does operate overseas call centers for those customers who may be price sensitive or supporting operations in foreign countries. 

It can happen to anyone, anytime, anywhere ... are you wondering, Am I Next?