California-based call-center operator Concentrix is planning to lay off up to 785 workers at its Tucson center at the end of April, but the company says it will maintain a smaller presence here.
The layoffs were prompted by the closure of three client programs, but Concentrix will keep more than 100 workers busy on other programs at its site at 3760 N. Commerce Drive, near Interstate 10 and West Prince Road, Concentrix spokeswoman Brooke Beiting said.
Concentrix is a subsidiary of Synnex Corp., which acquired call-center operator Convergys Corp. along with its Tucson operation in October.
“We’ve had a long, established and positive relationship with the Tucson community and we at this point have no plans to exit that footprint,” Beiting said, adding that the local center could grow again in the future to handle new customer-service client contracts.
“When programs leave, that will leave openings for new ones to come in,” Beiting said. “This isn’t something that is completely uncommon, whether it’s seasonal work or full-time work, this is part of our business and it does happen to fluctuate.”
Employees affected by the layoffs will be given outplacement assistance, and some may qualify for jobs elsewhere within the company or have the opportunity to work at home, she said.
In 2017, Concentrix announced it was expanding an existing customer-service operation in Tempe to add more than 1,500 jobs.
Beiting declined to name any of the company’s current clients, but said Concentrix provides customer-service programs mainly to the retail and financial-services industries.
Since its $2.4 billion acquisition of Convergys, Concentrix has announced hundreds of layoffs at locations including Convergys’ former headquarters town of Cincinnati; Charlotte, North Carolina; and Watertown, New York.
Convergys came to Tucson in 2001 when it acquired the computer help-desk business of Keane Inc. at the University of Arizona Science and Technology Park.
The company closed the Tech Park location in 2003 and moved to the Commerce Drive site, where it became one of Tucson’s biggest employers, with about 1,500 employees at its peak in the early 2000s and more than 900 workers as recently as 2016.
Several other companies have major call-center operations in and around Tucson, including Afni, Agero, Alorica, C3/CustomerContactChannels, CyraCom, Citi, Geico, iQor and OptumRx.
Altogether, those companies employ more than 10,000 workers, according to workforce figures filed with the Pima Association of Governments.
Pima County’s Community Services, Employment and Training Department has been notified of the Concentrix layoffs. The county helps displaced workers find new jobs through its One-Stop Career Centers.
