VZW, Sprint ramp up call-center job hires

Verizon Wireless said it expects to spend $30 million to renovate its Little Rock, Ark., campus, which eventually will accommodate 2,000 employees. Meanwhile, competitor Sprint Nextel is beefing up its own call-center efforts in anticipation of its continued WiMAX rollout.
Verizon Wireless initially expected to employ about 1,300 people at the Little Rock campus. “The fact that we can expect to employ 700 more area residents than we originally anticipated is extremely gratifying,” said Steve Smith, president – South Central Region, Verizon Wireless. “There is such a large pool of talent here in Arkansas, and our employees play a key role in providing the superior network quality and customer service Arkansans deserve.”
Verizon said its renovations will include an employee wellness center and state-of-the-art data center. Jobs at the company include adding more customer service positions. Staffing levels in network engineering and information technology also have increased, the company said. Verizon got the facilities as part of its acquisition of Alltel Communications L.L.C. in January 2009.
For its part, Sprint Nextel is adding 100 workers at its Temple, Texas, call center. The Temple call center handles multiple lines of business, including account services, finance and business care. It also has bilingual teams to service Sprint’s Spanish-speaking customers. Sprint has been adding a few hundred call-center positions at its regional offices around the country in recent months. Sprint was looking to add 200 positions in New Mexico, nearly 100 positions at its Orlando call center and almost 125 positions at its Sacramento, Calif., campus.
“The decision to hire is in anticipation of increased customer expectations with the accelerated national rollout of Sprint’s 4G network coupled with an overwhelming response to new device launches, including the upcoming availability of HTC EVO, the world’s first 3G/4G phone,” Sprint Nextel said in its Temple, Texas, news release.