BellSouth expanding its Charleston call center

BellSouth Corp. is expanding its Charleston call center and 27 others under a broad restructuring that will lead to closings and job cuts in other markets.

Locally, the company plans to add 107 positions in its consumer services operations, nearly doubling the size of that unit, said Ted Creech, regional director for BellSouth.

“Our Lowcountry operations are benefiting from a healthy business climate here,” Creech said.

In a statement Tuesday, Atlanta-based BellSouth said it expects to keep job reductions “minimal. ”

According to a report by The Associated Press, between 650 and 700 positions will be eliminated as almost two-thirds of the company’s 75 centers are closed or relocated because of sluggish demand. The cuts are among the 4,000 employees that BellSouth announced late last year. Call-center employees whose jobs would be eliminated in the reorganization could fill some of the positions being transferred to Charleston.

“We just have to wait and see how that all takes place and shakes out,” Creech said.

BellSouth said it would provide relocation expenses and give priority consideration to affected workers who want to transfer. Employees who leave would be offered “a variety of separation options,” the company said.

BellSouth plans to restructure its nine-state call-center operation by the end of the year, Creech said. It has not been decided whether the additional Charleston employees will be working out of the local headquarters at 385 Meeting St. or another building.

BellSouth said it is shifting its call-center operations to a slimmed-down “no boundaries approach” that will allow its representatives to field customer-service inquiries from anywhere within its calling territory. Ike Harris, president of consumer services for BellSouth, said the streamlining “will greatly increase our ability to respond to customers’ needs and will allow us to be more effective in addressing competition.”

The company did not identify the specific markets where call centers are being closed or relocated.