Hardware giant Dell, in the middle of consolidating its global operations and cutting its costs by downsizing up to 10% of it's workforce, has announced the closure of it's Edmonton call centre sending 900 employees to the unemployment lines. Dell moved to the city in 2005 with major tax concessions from city hall, "a 20-year agreement to waive property taxes on the company's southside call centre", worth a reported $1.1 million over the first 5 years of the deal. Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel said "Their turnover was so high they couldn't keep people trained well enough to keep the level of service up,". Kenn Bur, director of communications for Economic Development Edmonton says "There a number of scenarios and we have referred that to our legal counsel," in response to questions about recuperating money due to Dell's breach of the agreement.
CBC story here.
CBC story here.
