Eircom’s €35m outsourcing contract to take 200 staff off payroll

EIRCOM will offload 200 more staff from its payroll after signing a second outsourcing deal with a British call centre operator.

The €35 million five-year contract will see the Capita group take over as employer of the staff involved, who include teams that work on Eircom’s 1901 sales and customer service line.

The deal is Eircom’s second with Capita and follows a similar three-year arrangement agreed in January which affected 200 staff who make outbound sales calls to encourage customers to take out extra Eircom services, such as broadband internet and add-ons such as call answering.

Eircom also has an outsourcing deal with a third company, Stream, that took over 100 staff off its payroll.

Eircom’s retail managing director Cathal Magee said it was a good deal for staff, who would do the same work and have their existing rights safeguarded as well as being given new opportunities as part of Capita.

Capita is one of Britain’s top business support providers. Clients in Britain include government departments, local authorities and corporate names like Royal and Sun Alliance.