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NEW to shutter Hays call center
Published on -2/1/2012, 9:59 AM
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NEW Corp. is the fifth-largest employer in Ellis County and received a significant incentive package from the city of Hays, Ellis County and private investors when it opened its doors in 2004.
“This was a tough decision since we have been a part of this community for seven years,” Terri Feely, senior vice president of human resources for NEW, said in a press release. “Our goal was to staff and maintain 450 customer care representatives within this center, but due to challenges in the local market related to competition for available talent and below average unemployment rates, we have found it increasingly more difficult to keep the center operating at capacity.”
The Hays facility is the only one of NEW’s 10 facilities scheduled to close.
Ellis County’s unemployment rate was 2.9 percent in December. The threshold for full employment is 4 percent, according to the Kansas Department of Commerce. Unemployment also was low when NEW decided to open the Hays facility. At its announcement in July 2004, unemployment was at 2.4 percent in the county.
Aaron White, executive director of the Ellis County Coalition for Economic Development, said call centers typically have a higher stress level among employees than other types of work. Turnover rates also tend to be higher industry-wide. Though he was unsure Tuesday afternoon about all of the details associated with the closure, he was a little surprised by the announcement, receiving no advanced warning.
“It’s unfortunate that they didn’t reach out to the coalition or KansasWorks ... in assisting them with finding employees,” White said.
NEW opened in 2004 in the Commerce Parkway facility formerly occupied by Sykes Enterprises, also a call center. Sykes pulled out of Hays in 2004 citing changing market conditions and client needs.
GAYLE WEBER • gweber@dailynews.net
For more, see Wednesday's Hays Daily News.
