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Vodafone Transfers B-to-B Support Jobs to Call Center Outsourcer Teleperformance

By Tracey E. Schelmetic
TMCnet Contributor

Global call center outsourcing giant Teleperformance has a new client: British mobile phone services provider Vodafone (News - Alert). Paris-based Teleperformance now has 207 new employees: former Vodafone customer support personnel from three of Vodafone’s specialist operations teams who are being transferred to Teleperformance (News - Alert), along with the responsibility for providing customer care to business-to-business customers formerly supported by Vodafone's Newark call center facility in the East Midlands.

Vodafone has said that all the transferred call center staff will be guaranteed continuous employment and the same terms and conditions, according to an article in the UK's Mobile Magazine. Vodafone reportedly chose Teleperformance for its “experience and expertise as a leader in the provision of customer services in the business sector.” It was unclear where the 207 specialists would be based in the future.

According to Vodafone, the strategic partnership between the two companies “underlines the importance of Vodafone’s operations in Newark and our commitment to provide the best service for business customers.”

Teleperformance CEO Alistair Niederer commented on the partnership, saying, “This will be a true collaboration with Vodafone and the partnership will ensure a great future for the Newark contact center and the services we can provide for business customers. We look forward to welcoming our new colleagues over the coming months.”

Not everyone was pleased with the transition. Caroline Hemmington, senior organizing project leader at trade union Prospect, called Vodafone out on its choice to transfer the jobs to a foreign outsourced services provider.

“Once again, yet another group of employees in Vodafone find themselves facing transfer out of the company. Previously companies like Vodafone prided themselves on growing organically, providing long term prospects for employees. But increasingly pressure from a competitive market leads them to choose the route of outsourcing with everyone left behind wondering who will be next. As ever we will be supporting our members with appropriate advice throughout the consultation process and beyond,” Hemmington told Mobile Magazine.

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