TeleTech expands work force

Call center hiring 50-plus employees

By LYNNETTE HINTZE

The Daily Inter Lake

TeleTech plans to hire more than 50 employees in the coming weeks for its Kalispell call center, an upswing that will push the total work force to about 300.

"We've been very pleased with the caliber of the Kalispell employees," company public relations director Julie Lucas said. "We always wanted a steady, deliberate expansion of the Kalispell site."

The Colorado-based firm opened the Kalispell call center in the former Stream International space in Glacier West Mall last fall, hiring 200 workers initially. TeleTech provides a variety of customer-management services to its corporate clients, including telephone- and Internet-based call-center support.

The client TeleTech serves with its Kalispell work force is a major corporation. Call firms typically don't reveal who their clients are.

"We have a long-term relationship with this client," Lucas said, "and that adds stability to the Kalispell center."

TeleTech has an arrangement with Kalispell that's similar to what was provided for Stream: In exchange for a 100 percent lease rebate, the company agreed to provide 125 jobs, including 100 full-time positions, during its first year of operation. That would climb to 425 jobs and 340 full-time positions within three years, with a minimum wage rate of $8 per hour, plus a 20 percent benefits package.

If the company fails to meet the employment targets, it won't receive the entire rebate. TeleTech also agreed to make a minimum annual property tax payment of $140,000, which will cover the city's debt payment on the 63,000-square-foot office space.

"We want to emphasize we're a good employer," Lucas said. "We have competitive salaries with benefits. We are a consistent steady presence and we want to keep people employed."

TeleTech recently began an employee incentive program in which workers can earn up to 15 percent above their annual wages based on job performance.

Customer-contact agents need "good people skills," Lucas said, along with the ability to solve problems and multitask.

Job applications can be submitted to the call center at Gateway West Mall, 1203 U.S. 2 West during office hours, 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. Questions should be directed to site recruitment manager Paula Miller, at 751-3103.

TeleTech, which is publicly traded on the Nasdaq stock exchange, employees about 33,000 people at 67 call centers worldwide.

While the Kalispell center deals almost exclusively with English-speaking clients, many of the global centers deal in multiple languages. To upgrade customer service, the company recently launched InCulture, a program that allows clients to reach an interpreter and converse in their own language. With 150 languages available, the program aims to serve TeleTech's growing multicultural market.

"Clients using the service get over-the-phone real-time interpretation," Lucas said. "They can be connected with someone who speaks their language, and it's not just translation, it's also interpretation."

TeleTech last week released its annual report for 2004, showing revenue of $1,052.7 million, a 5.2 percent increase over 2003 revenue of $1,001.1 million. Income from operations was $48.5 million for 2004, up $31.1 million from $17.4 million for 2003.

The increase is primarily a result of the company's ongoing initiatives to grow new and existing client relationships, improve profitability on certain client programs, centralize and further automate global delivery and operating systems and achieve global cost reduction goals, chief executive office Kenneth Tuchman said in a prepared release.

Features editor Lynnette Hintze may be reached at 758-4421 or by e-mail at lhintze@dailyinterlake.com