PORT OF SPAIN, Trinidad (CMC) – Telecommunications company Digicel on Monday announced that it has transitioned its Trinidad consumer contact centre to a consolidated regional centre of excellence in Jamaica, resulting in more than 100 workers being retrenched.

"As a company we are forever grateful for the contributions of our contact centre agents and recognise their commitment to providing excellent service as our customers' first point of contact," said Digicel's Chief Executive Officer Abraham Smith, confirming the move that has resulted in 126 workers being retrenched.

Smith said it is no secret that the call centre has been the "heartbeat of our customer operations for 17 years, with many people throughout the business starting their journey there.

"It has been a great source of energy and vibrancy for the company and we will work toward keeping that spirit alive in all that we do," he said, acknowledging that "while this decision was not taken lightly, we firmly believe that this move will benefit our customers and the company in the long run as this consolidation will streamline our operations and reduce costs, which will ultimately help us to continue to be a competitive and sustainable business".

In a statement announcing the retrenchment, Digicel said it has engaged several third-party customer contact centre operators and is in discussions with them to absorb the affected employees into their operations in the coming weeks.

It said that its regional corporate contact centre will be consolidated as well into a centre of excellence based here, and that the retrenched employees will be treated fairly and with respect.

It said the former workers will be supported through their transition, with expanded Employee Assistance Programme (EAP) services and special transition workshops on resume writing, interview skills, and financial management, amongst other initiatives.