AT&T (News - Alert) has become the latest firm to repatriate their customer-facing contact center services from offshore back to the US.

 

The carrier will open by year end a new contact center in Detroit, Mich. that will provide service and support to its DSL customers.

 

The facility, which will be in an existing AT&T -owned building, will directly employ 300 people and will also indirectly lead to the hiring of 110 more: a welcome infusion of jobs in a city and state that has been hard hit by losses in its signature automotive industry.

The newly created direct jobs will pay an average weekly wage of $445. AT&T will also offer healthcare benefits and pay a portion of the benefit costs. 

 

"We're bringing jobs back that were previously outsourced outside of the US," AT&T spokesperson Joe Steele had told the Detroit Free Press.

 

The State of Michigan helped make the deal happen by approving over $1 million in tax credits across five years. The incentives offset higher buildout, furniture, workspace, and network connectivity costs in the state compared with other locations. The total capital investment for this project is expected to be $1.7 million.

 

The financial return is a $3.8 million increase in total state government revenues through the year 2013, net of economic costs and adjusted for inflation.

 

Also making the new contact center possible in Michigan has been recent regulatory changes. AT&T spokesperson Steele cited video reform legislation passed in 2007 that enabled the carrier to compete with the cable companies for that business and the removal of sun setting this year on the Michigan Telecommunication Act that was to expire in 2009.

 

AT&T’s move follows the opening of a contact center earlier this year of rival Comcast (News - Alert) in nearby Dearborn. The metro area has a large and diverse workforce, with both Hispanic and Arabic-language speaking populations.

 

The new AT&T contact center opening appears at first glance to be similar to the decision by firms like Dell (News - Alert) to move some of its customer care back to the US to deliver higher quality service than that provided by agents in other countries.

 

Many but not all site selection and training consultants have pointed to cultural affinity issues that have often arisen with offshore contact handling that have led to longer calls and increased customer dissatisfaction.

 

Yet according to Steele, offshore customer care quality was not a factor in the new Detroit center.

 

“We made a commitment in 2006 to bring back 5,000 jobs to the US, “says Steele. “It is a good move for our customers and for the communities we serve.”