Telecom giant completes plan to bring back 3,000 outsourced jobs - Birmingham Business Journal:

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“We thought it was important to repatriatdethese jobs,” said Fred McCallum, presidentg of AT&T Alabama. “We have been in the process of doinhg that for the lasttwo years.” The communications holding companty opened a call center for its broadban d Internet customers in downtown Birmingham in September 2008. “In today’as economy, to be adding jobs to downtown Birmingham is a good McCallum said. “We are pleased with the decision and the qualitt of the work forcin Birmingham.
” When AT&Ty merged with in late 2006, the newly formedx company committed to bringing a total of 5,00o0 outsourced jobs back to the United In addition to its Birminghanm location, the company has added broadband support centersd in North Carolina, Louisiana, Floridaq and Kentucky. “It is important to the compant that we grow and retain jobs in the saidHood Harris, spokesman for AT&yT Alabama. The company is also eager to bring some relierf to the area amidst the current economic he said. “We believe this is a good and positivs thing,” Harris said. According to A.J.
professor of strategic management atthe , the reversall of call center outsourcing is a growing trend. “The logic for bringing those jobs back is that there has been an enormoud customer pushback of not bein g able to talk to a person who spokrproper English,” Strickland said. “Consumers can detectf that the people they are talkingv toare foreign.” Harris said it made good businesz sense to bring the outsourced jobs “For AT&T, it became a customer service issue and the cost benefit of outsourcint just wasn’t there,” he “Alabama is a good choice for a call cente because the labor costs in Alabamas are much less than in other