Firstsource: Sixty call centre jobs at risk of redundancy – BBC News

Call centre company Firstsource has announced more than 60 jobs are at risk of redundancy in Northern Ireland.

The company said it had now started a consultation process with workers who are affected.

It is understood 50 of them are based in Londonderry where the company has more than 250 workers.

The consultation is linked to work for its client, NOW Broadband, part of the Sky entertainment group, Firstsource said.

“Staff impacted have been informed today and as a responsible employer, we are working closely to support them throughout this process,” the company said in a statement.

It added: “Firstsource remains committed to Derry/Londonderry”.

A spokesman for NOW Broadband confirmed it is in the process of “reviewing how we work” with Firstsource.

“We are unable to comment further whilst we go through the process,” the spokesman added.

Last year around 500 staff in Northern Ireland were notified they were at risk of redundancy due to what Firstsource called the “changing priorities” of Sky.

Anna Doherty, CEO of Londonderry Chamber of Commerce, described the announcement as “very disappointing” and “sad”.

“Obviously retailers are suffering right now with the cost of business being so hard and the cost of energy etc, so we will see an impact of that,” she told BBC News NI.

She said there were “endless opportunities” in the local job market for those who could be facing redundancy.

“Every employer I talk to at the moment is looking for somebody,” she said.

“We are very resilient in business here.

“And there are a lot of emerging businesses, a lot of the businesses in the financial FinTech sector… looking for staff.

“So there will be opportunities for upskilling and reskilling for these individuals.”