Hosting and telecommunications services provider, Macquarie Telecom, has flatly rejected claims it had retrenched 40 employees in customer support areas.
The claim Macquarie Telecom had cut staff came on the back of the official launch of its Sydney-based MacquarieHUB contact centre.
After news reports of the launch were published sources told Computerworld Australia that the 40 new staff hired by the company were actually replacements for the same amount of staff in customer support areas, who were told they would be laid off as soon as two days before the contact centre's opening.
The sources said the staff worked in customer support areas like provisioning, project management and sales and account management and that "although the company is growing, the business is focusing more on hosting services, and the telco skillsets these people had were not aligned with the new stratergy [sic]".
The sources said the staff were provided with redundancy packages at the minimum legal requirements, equal to one month's salary for every year served. No job search or assistance packages were offered by the company it was additionally claimed.
However, a spokesperson for Macquarie Telecom said the claim was "factually incorrect" and that over the last 12 months only six staff had been offered redundancies and they were not related to the new call centre. The spokesperson added the company was committed to increasing its permanent head count by five per cent over the next year.
Macquarie Telecom is trying to position the new local call centre - which seats 40 staff - as a way to provide better customer services all year round than off-shored alternatives in India or the Philippines.
The contact centre's launch was applauded by Federal communications minister, Stephen Conroy, and NSW Treasurer, Eric Roozendaal, as a victory for ICT jobs in Sydney.
"I congratulate Macquarie Telecom on its new customer service centre and encourage other hosting and telecommunications providers to follow Macquarie Telecom’s lead," Conroy said in a statement.
“The NSW Government warmly welcomes Macquarie Telecom's investment in this $5 million customer service centre which delivers high skilled jobs for Sydney’s information, communications and technology (ICT) sector," Roozendaal echoed in the statement. "This investment – a strong vote of confidence in NSW skills - was secured with assistance from Industry & Investment NSW”.