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March 3, 2007
Outsourcing giant Convergys announced Friday that it will open a new call center in Wichita, creating the equivalent of 600 full-time jobs.
The Cincinnati-based company employs about 74,000 people in 30 countries, in call centers and business back-office operations.
Local jobs will start at about $9.50 per hour. The annual payroll for the center will exceed $12 million. It would be one of the five largest call centers in Wichita.
Convergys said Friday that it would comment further, including timing for the project, next week.
The company plans to reopen the former Spiegel call center, 7236 E. Harry, which has been vacant since 2002.
Patrick Ahern, an agent for Grubb&Ellis/Martens Commercial, handled the lease.
The state will give Convergys incentives worth about $2 million over five years if it creates the full 600 jobs. The company could earn closer to $3 million if the jobs pay above the median wage for the local call center industry.
The city and county also contributed a forgivable loan, but the amount wasn't released.
The announcement generated praise from local and state officials.
"That's a huge benefit to our community and provides a lot more jobs," said Dave Unruh, chairman of the Sedgwick County Commission. "This is a solid company that will be with us for a while."
Wichita's call center industry now employs roughly 5,000 people, about as high as it's ever been. But the industry has seen plenty of ups and downs.
Several centers closed when their companies downsized or moved the jobs overseas, throwing hundreds out of work.
American companies continue to outsource customer contact and business functions at a rapid pace, said Donna Jaegers, research analyst with Janco Partners in Denver. But in recent years, some companies have felt a customer backlash against Indian or Filipino call center workers.
While lower value work will continue to move overseas, Jaegers said, higher value work will stay in the United States, at least for the time being.
"Is there stability for these jobs?" Jaegers said. "I'd say more now than in the last three to five years."
Convergys continues to build aggressively in the United States and overseas. It will open call centers in Erlanger, Ky., and Longview, Texas, in the first half of the year.
Convergys divides itself into three units:
• Customer Care: inbound and outbound sales, marketing, and support at more than 75 call centers.
• Employee Care: benefits and payroll operations, staffing and training.
• Information Management Group: bill processing and software for telecommunications companies.
Its three largest clients -- AT&T, Sprint Nextel and DirecTV -- accounted for about 33 percent of its 2006 revenue.
Convergys had $2.7 billion in sales in 2006, an 8 percent growth rate over 2005. It earned a $166 million profit, a 36 percent increase over the year before.
Convergys was formed as a division of Cincinnati Bell and spun off in 1998.
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