Hot on the heels of Telstra's announcement that it plans to cut 10,000 jobs over the next two years, competitor AAPT has said it will set up a $4 million regional call centre in Bendigo, Victoria.
Victorian Premier Steve Bracks said the new National Call Centre would directly create 413 new full-time jobs. "The Victorian Government has worked with AAPT to secure this multimillion-dollar investment for Bendigo, against competitive bids from New South Wales and Western Australia," Bracks said.
He said the Victorian Government had worked hard to secure the first major investment under its new Regional Call Centre Attraction Program.
The Minister for State and Regional Development, John Brumby, said the growth of call centres would bring many benefits to regional Victoria. "There are more than 400 call centres in Victoria, employing an estimated 20,000 people," Brumby said.
"Victoria's position in the Asian time zone, our multilingual capabilities, affordable wages and low staff turnover rates have helped to position this state as an Asia-Pacific hub for the call centre industry," he said.
AAPT's National Call Centre will be located in temporary premises, with a move to permanent premises, the former Coca-Cola factory, in September.
The centre will handle the majority of the company's incoming calls related to billing, connections and customer enquiries.