Vodafone denies move will cost jobs

VODAFONE IRELAND denied there would be job losses when it announced it was moving its mobile call centre operation from Irish firm Rigney Dolphin to Newry-based Teleperformance.

While Vodafone said there would be no change in the terms and conditions of those currently employed, staff in Dundalk said they were told they would have to move to either Newry or Dublin.

Staff briefings were held yesterday on the implications of the changes. The telecoms firm said it had been reviewing its call centre operations, and as a result 26 Vodafone jobs and 290 contract roles currently with Rigney Dolphin would transfer to Teleperformance.

A spokesman for Vodafone Ireland insisted that no jobs would be lost as a result of the move, and the plan was for Teleperformance to take over the existing sites in Dublin and Dundalk along with the staff currently working there. Staff would be employed on the same terms and conditions.

Most of the jobs are based in Dundalk. Teleperformance is set to take over the call centres after a six-week consultation with Rigney Dolphin and Vodafone.

The Communication Workers’ Union criticised the telecoms firm for the move, saying jobs were being exported to Newry.

Newry-based Teleperformance manages 255 contact centres in 49 markets and works with Vodafone in a number of markets. Rigney Dolphin will continue to work with Vodafone Ireland in its call centre sales and fixed care functions.

The union’s deputy general secretary, Terry Delaney, said most of the jobs would migrate to Newry, and he suspected “the bulk of people affected in Dublin will not transfer to Newry, and redundancies will arise”. Vodafone outsourced nearly 140 jobs to India and Egypt last year.

“There are men in their 50s sitting here with tears in their eyes after hearing this, they face horrible decisions if they want to keep a job,” said Kieran Pickering, who is part of a team of senior support staff based in Dundalk.

Mr Pickering (29), said he had bills to pay, that he was getting married soon and that he had just been told his team was moving to Dublin. “I can’t drive and it’s 50 miles from here. I have been here nearly 10 years and now I face a dilemma. We were told that come September/October of this year there will be no one left in this building.”