200 jobs lost in closure of UPS call centre

SOME 200 jobs are to be lost in Dublin due to the closure of a call centre operated by international delivery giant UPS.

The employees at the Tallaght centre are to be made redundant on a phased basis beginning in October and lasting until May 2010, UPS announced yesterday.

However, 60 employees will be relocated to other UPS operations in the Dublin area.

Recruitment problems and increasing costs have been blamed for the closure.

The Tallaght call centre opened in 1996, and deals with customer queries from France, Belgium, the Netherlands, Ireland, parts of Switzerland, and parts of Britain.

The company said it had become increasingly difficult to find local employees with the necessary language skills.

Workers from abroad had been recruited by the company and relocated to the Dublin facility. However, many had not stayed with UPS long and returned to their home countries after a shot time, UPS said in a statement. This added to the expense at the Tallaght facility.

The decision to close was “very difficult” but in the current economic climate it had to look at ways to improve competitiveness, Nigel Goodson, director of human resources, UPS UK and Ireland, said in a statement.

Employees would receive “significantly in excess” of statutory redundancy payments, the company said.

The employees at the facility are not unionised. They were informed of the news yesterday afternoon.

Workers leaving the facility in Tallaght yesterday did not wish to comment on the closure.

Employee representatives at the facility had been consulted, and UPS was ensuring the workforce was “fully informed”, Mr Goodson said.

“This is a regrettable but unavoidable decision, and we will do all that we can to support the workforce in the period ahead,” he said.

The decision to close had only come after “an exhaustive review of the options for the Tallaght call centre”, Mr Goodson added.

Fianna Fáil Dublin South West TD Charlie O’Connor said he would call on Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise Mary Coughlan to arrange for the company to meet the IDA to discuss solutions to save the operation.

“This is a loss to the Tallaght economy,” Mr O’Connor added, “and one that the area cannot afford.”

Unemployment in the area had risen by 85 per cent since last year, according to Labour TD for Dublin South West Pat Rabbitte.

He said he found it hard to understand the problems in finding workers.

“A very high proportion of the staff, perhaps over 80 per cent, are non-national.

“Together with available indigenous Irish, it is difficult to understand why there should be difficulty finding employees with the appropriate language skills.”

However, he said if they were in short supply, it raised questions about policy towards call centres in general.

The closure would “pile more pressure in respect of the unemployment crisis on Dublin 24”, said Fine Gael Dublin South West deputy Brian Hayes.

The “devastating blow” highlighted Ireland’s declining competitiveness.

He called for a reskilling package to be put in place for workers to be supported by UPS and State employment agencies.

The company has said that other operations would not be affected.

UPS employs 300 people in its Ballymount billing facility in Dublin, 260 workers in small package operations and 30 people in supply chain and freight operations in Dublin, Cork and Shannon.

More than 200 jobs were lost in Tallaght earlier this year due to the closure of the Jacobs factory.