ANOTHER CALL CENTRE CLOSING IN TAMPA BAY

I work in a call centre, so I know how volitale the industry is. It's often demanding work, dealing with customers who don't want to talk to you and often hostile while you're doing your job. The pay is often barely enough to cover your expenses, the expectations are high, and the thanks are often nonexistant. Therefore, the turnover is quite often high. It's not the type of work for many people.

But it's become a big part of the Tampa Bay employment scene in recent years, with a number of big name firms locating here. That is beginning to change once again, thanks to the seemingly endless consolidation of banking institutions. Only months after Capital One announced it was shutting down it's credit card call centre, JP Morgan/Chase has determined that it had more workers than it needed and is laying off 1,900 of it's employees.

BTW: The banner at the top of the JPMorgan Chase corporate website proudly boasts "Strengthening Communities". Considering their announcement Wednesday, isn't it somewhat ironic? Especially since both Capital One and JPMorgan/Chase received a sizable amount of tax incentives to locate their call centres here.

Thanks to Florida Politics for the good piece on it. BTW: I know one Waffle House that is NOT hiring. The one on Memorial Boulevard in Lakeland closed it's doors a week or two ago. There are still a couple of other locations in town, though. Seriously, Polk County has gotten it's share of call centres in recent years. The one I work at, GC Services, is one of the largest in the area and does contract work for MCI in the areas of collections, deposits, small business, and high toll security. They're always hiring...