Optimum Altice Jamaica doubled its workforce to 900 plus and expanded from two to 19 service lines since 2023, supporting its US parent’s 5 million customers.

Operating exclusively for Altice USA, Optimum uses AI to enhance jobs and hires 80-100 new agents monthly.

The company embeds itself in Jamaica’s business community and plans further growth and partnerships.

Optimum Altice Jamaica is preparing for another round of expansion after doubling its workforce to more than 900 and extending its services across 19 business lines in just two years.

The Kingston-based facility, which opened in mid-2023 with just over 400 employees and two service areas, has become a centre of excellence for its US-based parent company, testing and rolling out new functions that support Altice USA’s five million residential and business customers across 21 states. One of the largest broadband communications and video services providers in the United States, Altice USA delivers broadband, video, mobile, proprietary content, and advertising services under its Optimum brand.

Executives say the local site is structured for further expansion, both in headcount and scope of services, as more business flows from the parent company.

“We are not an extended BPO [business process outsourcing] client. We are the client,” Director of Operations Tanisha Davis told the Jamaica Observer in clarifying the company’s business model. “Our model is different. It gives us stability and the chance to innovate as a test-and-learn site for our parent company.”

Optimum Jamaica’s trajectory contrasts sharply with the broader outsourcing sector, where some operators have scaled back space and headcount amid rising concerns about automation. Instead, the company is adding 80 to 100 new agents each month and insists that artificial intelligence is being deployed as an enhancer, not a substitute, for jobs.

“We’ve used AI for years, but we use it to leverage what we already have. It helps us provide best-in-class service. We are hiring more people…at this very moment, we have job openings,” Davis told the Business Observer.

The captive structure — where the Jamaican arm operates exclusively for its US parent rather than multiple external clients — has allowed the company to ramp up quickly. Services now span customer care, retention, mobile support, sales enablement, engineering, HR, IT and back-office operations.

For Jamaica, the expansion means not only jobs but integration into a multinational’s core operations. Optimum has joined the Jamaica Manufacturers and Exporters Association (JMEA), the Private Sector Organisation of Jamaica (PSOJ), and the Global Services Association of Jamaica (GSAJ) and other business groups, and executives stress that the company is embedding itself within the local business community.

“Optimum could have chosen to put their investment anywhere. The fact that they chose Jamaica speaks volumes about the confidence they have in our people, our talent, and our future,” JMEA vice-president, Mark Frankson said during the official launch of the business on Tuesday.

The company operates from a leased space at the New Kingston Business Centre in Kingston, with additional space available to accommodate growth. Its ambitions, executives say, include deeper integration with Altice USA, expansion into new cross-functional departments, and stronger community partnerships.

“Optimum’s expansion shows what happens when a multinational doesn’t just set up shop in Jamaica but makes the country central to its growth strategy,” CEO of the Jamaica Special Economic Zone Authority, Kelli-Dawn Hamilton said.

“Behind every one of those 900 jobs are households being supported and communities being lifted. When companies like Optimum thrive, Jamaica doesn’t just participate in the global outsourcing market, it proves itself as a partner of choice for business excellence,” she continued.