In a consolidation of its call centre network, the group's Canberra and Melbourne-based call centres will shut up shop by late October, whilst staff at its Gosford call centre will be shown the door in a month's time. Centres in South Australia, Parramatta and Hurstville are unaffected by the cull and the company is touting an expansion of operations in Western Australia and Brisbane.
Phil Newton, IAG state manager for ACT and southern NSW, refused to say how many staff would be affected by the closures. However, the 190 full-time positions that will become available between now and the end of the year in WA and Brisbane, which currently have a headcount of 88 and 70 respectively, will see -significant new opportunities in both of these call centres for staff," he told ZDNet Australia.
"Employee assistance and HR are currently onsite with staff talking about redeployment options within IAG existing jurisdictions or in other states where new positions will be made," Newton said, adding. -Our philosophy is that redundancy is the absolute last option."
According to Newton, staff affected by the call centre closures have two weeks to reapply for the positions that will be available through the National Roads and Motorists' Association (NRMA) members services group taking over from IAG.
NRMA, which is owned by IAG, has confirmed that it has committed to answer all of its own member calls by July 1, some of which were previously handled by IAG staff, and as a result will be expanding its Gosford membership customer contact centre from 60 to 80 employees.
NRMA spokesperson Shane McCelland said as a result of the IAG closures there would be -opportunities for them [IAG staff] to apply to work with us".
NRMA's Canberra, Sydney and Gosford road service call centres will not be impacted by the IAG consolidation, the company said.
-All emergency road service calls will continue to be handled by NRMA staff in Gosford, Sydney and Canberra," the company said in a statement.
