450 call centre jobs in jeopardy

By Kevin Magee
BBC Northern Ireland business correspondent

Stream International provides support for computer hardware products

Concerns are growing that 450 jobs will go at the Stream International call centre in Londonderry within the next two months.

The company has already confirmed 250 workers are to be made redundant, but the BBC has learned that it told Invest NI that 450 jobs could be lost.

Since 2000, the company has been offered £2.3m in government subsidies.

It's understood £1.2m has already been paid to the US-owned company, which employs about 550 people at Springtown.

The call centre provides customer service and technical support for computer hardware products.

Customers have included Dell, BT, JVC and Vodafone.

We have a lot of visits lined up over the next eight weeks Jeff Jennings Stream International

Three months ago it announced 250 jobs would go in October. It later emerged that 335 workers had been put on 90 days' notice.

It's understood, however, that on the same day that it told staff 250 jobs were under threat, it told Invest NI that approximately 450 redundancies were likely as a result of losing the contract to a rival company which is headquartered in Cincinnati.

A Stormont briefing note seen by the BBC said: "Stream informed Invest NI in July 2009 that approximately 450 redundancies will take place in October 2009; this is due to the loss of a major contract to another vendor.

"Publicly, however, Stream have only announced 250 redundancies."

It added: "The 450 redundancies will see 338 direct Stream employees affected; 50 contract staff and it is estimated that 62 employees currently working in support roles will no longer be required as the remaining operation will be significantly smaller in scale."

Contracts

Stream International Chief Executive Jeff Jennings confirmed that 450 redundancies were expected unless new contracts could be found in the coming weeks.

"Everyone likely to be affected has been informed."

He said the company was trying to find new contracts to stave off the job losses.

"We have a lot of visits lined up over the next eight weeks," he said.

If new contracts cannot be found, it's understood Invest NI will seek agreement with the company to jointly run a redundancy clinic on the business premises.

At its peak, Stream International was one of the largest employers in the city with a workforce of 800.

Once this current wave of redundancies hits, it will have shrunk to a core of about 100 staff.