CenturyLink will conduct interviews and testing today and Wednesday as it gears up to hire 150 people in coming months for a new customer service call center in downtown Omaha.
The workers will provide technical support for customers of CenturyLink’s Internet service across a dozen Western and Midwestern states, including Iowa, Nebraska and South Dakota.
CenturyLink previously has outsourced this support service to vendors but wants to bring the employees in-house, said Patrick O’Grady, director of consumer technical support.
The company chose Omaha because “the quality of people here are excellent,” said Sandy Brown, a CenturyLink recruiting manager.
Brown said the jobs come in addition to 48 technicians CenturyLink hired in Omaha recently to support its Prism television product rollout, as well as 33 consumer retention specialist jobs it added this winter to its other downtown offices in the Omaha World-Herald building. The telecommunications provider, headquartered in Monroe, Louisiana, may bring more jobs to Omaha in the future, he said.
Some good news. Downtown has been pretty volatile lately from MindMixer to KC to Hudl to the Old Market to Pac Life announcing moving out to CenturyLink boosting their presence and talking about more jobs.
The employees will be represented by the Communications Workers of America union and will earn $10.07 per hour to start, with raises every six months. Employees can expect to earn $15 to $16 an hour after four years of service, Brown said, and some will have the opportunity to move into supervisory positions. The jobs provide medical benefits, paid vacation and a maximum $5,250 annual education tuition benefit.
Julie Darrington, Nebraska vice president for CenturyLink, said some CenturyLink employees are moving to another building the company owns at 19th and Dodge Streets. She said the rest of the offices eventually will move to another location, but the destination and timetable aren’t final.
As DTO has gain so much momentum west lately it would be really nice for CenturyLink to consolidate their operations on 19th and help anchor that end of DT.
Julie Darrington, Nebraska vice president for CenturyLink, said some CenturyLink employees are moving to another building the company owns at 19th and Dodge Streets. She said the rest of the offices eventually will move to another location, but the destination and timetable aren’t final.
As DTO has gain so much momentum west lately it would be really nice for CenturyLink to consolidate their operations on 19th and help anchor that end of DT.
Aside from the Wire and AT&T, what office is there?
When fortune smiles on something as violent and ugly as revenge, it seems proof like no other that not only does God exist, you're doing his will.
The residential is the momentum I was getting at, but there is Physician's Mutual, All Makes, Scoular AT&T and Wells Fargo are all presences on that area around 19th or the couple blocks west.
iamjacobm wrote:CenturyLink laying off 1000 nationwide. Lets hope Omaha doesn't take a big hit.
I don't need Warren to tell me that if you own stock in this company you better get out of it. 15 to 20 million to have their name on the side of Omahas Arena may not fit the budget anymore.
GRANDPASMUCKER wrote:
I don't need Warren to tell me that if you own stock in this company you better get out of it. 15 to 20 million to have their name on the side of Omahas Arena may not fit the budget anymore.
While it really sucks people are getting laid off, in this day and age, that brand recognition is so much more important to these companies than 1000 jobs. People's attention spans are so short anymore, something like naming rights go a long, long ways to keep a brand on the top of people mind. A company like CL would need to be more than flat broke to give up those rights.
They did a ton of exterior work on their building that appears to be finished. I started working DT 18 months ago and they were repointing the brick and painting and doing other exterior work on their building on 19th the entire time. All the scaffolding is gone now.