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Available
work force makes county a perfect fit for operations, companies
say
By MATT PHILLIPS | Californian staff writer | e-mail: mphillips@bakersfield.com Posted Saturday, September 25, 2004 For a couple of years in the 1990s, those cubicle-crammed outfits seemed like they could be the answer to the region's persistently high unemployment. During the 1990s, the county landed three call centers. Mesa, Ariz.-based phone fund-raiser MDS Communications established a call center in Bakersfield. Southern California travel company Pleasant Holidays LLC started a center here. Loan processor AFSA Data Corp. (now Affiliated Computer Services) brought a 100-person center to town in 1996; today it employs 700. In the early 1990s, there were no free-standing call centers in Kern County. By 2002, there were some 1,600 people working in such call centers. But that fast growth slowed significantly, inching up to just more than 1,700, according to the Kern Economic Development Corp.'s most recent figures. "Four
years ago, that was a huge growth opportunity for us, given the
dynamics of the market," said Patrick Collins, president
and CEO of KEDC. "Today, it is still an opportunity. But
it is not going to command the same attention or resources because
of all the changes in the industry."
Growth slowed Collins
says there are a number of reasons call center growth slowed.
In 2001, the country slid into an economic recession. In 2003,
the National Do-Not-Call Registry was established, limiting some
call center activities. Also a boom in offshore centers built
in places such as India gained traction.
In 2002, technology analysis group Forrester Research Inc. estimated that 3.3 million American service jobs would go off shore by 2015. In May, the company revised its estimates, saying jobs will move off shore faster than previously expected. Some of those jobs are in services such as call centers. The offshore phenomenon has had an impact. And the trend is something to watch. But
at the moment, offshore jobs are only a small sliver of the estimated
12 million people who work in around 120,000 call centers nationwide,
said David Butler, a professor of international development at
the University of Southern Mississippi. Butler has studied call
centers extensively.
Forrester research estimates there are 400,000 call center/customer service jobs in the United States. "There's still a lot of opportunities here in the states for companies to expand and grow," Butler said. Kern County officials agree. The county is in the midst of revamping the 1999 economic development plan that guided much of its economic development efforts in recent years. The
revamped strategy, along with two other planning documents, are
being produced by San Francisco-based firm ICF Consulting as part
of a $220,000 contract with the county. The strategy is due to
be finished in December, said Guy Greenlee, director of community
and economic development for Kern County.
"It will still be part of the planning effort," Greenlee said of call centers. But just how much time and effort county developers will spend going to call center trade shows, keeping in contact with site selection brokers and meeting with potential transplants still remains to be seen. The KEDC has no plans to go to call center trade shows in the next three months, Collins said. "That doesn't mean we just drop all those contacts and just shelve all that information," Collins said. Kern good for business Kern
County is a good fit for call centers, according to those who
manage local outfits.
"Not
only are the people that we hire very willing and able, the costs
are better for us overall because of the tax structures, because
of training costs and we're very, very happy with what we have
there," said Ken Phillips, vice president of corporate communications
and promotions at Pleasant Holidays LLC, a Westlake Village company
that has 125 working in its Bakersfield call center.
There are hundreds of cubicles in Affiliated Computer Service's Bakersfield building on 34th Street. The building was once a Kmart, a manager said. Today, the cavernous space is painted a muted corporate gray. Ficus trees under skylights add a bit of green. And snapshots of family and friends that cover some cubicle walls add color. Sound-dampening ceiling tiles muffle the sound of workers talking on headsets and tapping on keyboards. ACS is an inbound and outbound call center. That means during various shifts from 5 a.m. to 9 p.m. workers field calls from people with questions about their student loans. Others are making rapid-fire phone calls with the help of an automated dialer. On a recent visit, many workers were out to lunch. But when the center is firing on all cylinders, it can get loud, said Sue Richberg, vice president of ACS and head of the Bakersfield operation. "You can kind of hear it here," said Richberg, mimicking the chatter with hands. Around 700 people work at the Dallas-based outsourcing company's Bakersfield office, Richberg said. The available work force in Bakersfield is just what call centers need, said Richberg. That
gives the Bakersfield area a leg up on competition. For instance,
a couple of years ago ACS hired around 300 people in three months.
That would not have been possible at ACS' other call center in
Utica, N.Y.
"They've got an unemployment rate of about 3 percent, they don't have an available work force," Richberg said. Of course, Kern will have to compete with other counties and states to land these centers. Many communities across the country are hunting for call centers. These communities see call centers as a source of high-quality jobs, said Butler, the professor at the University of Southern Mississippi. "They pay good solid middle-class salaries," Butler said. Call center pay averages between $10 and $12 per hour, Butler said. This can vary by region. For instance, at ACS' local operation, starting wages are between $9 and $10.50. Many
companies also offer benefits such as health care and insurance
coverage to employees, Butler said.
Gracie Ruiz agrees the jobs pay pretty well. The bubbly 18-year-old is splitting time at fund-raising call center MDS Communications and her political science studies at Cal State Bakersfield. MDS employs 175 people in Bakersfield, according to the Kern Economic Development Corp. Ruiz worked full time over the summer but now she only works part time. "I get a good check for working 30 hours a week," she said. The job can be stressful, she said. People don't always want to talk to a phone fund-raiser. But she says she likes her job. "It's good pay and if you learn the training and can do it well, you can earn a lot of money," Ruiz said. |
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