Jobs boost for city as BT call centre creates 122 new roles

City centre operation plans to take on new staff with extra jobs also for Glasgow and Aberdeen

Telecoms giant BT has announced it is creating more than 100 jobs in Dundee.

The city is to benefit from more than 1,000 permanent roles being created at the company’s call centres across the UK and Ireland.

BT already has a major call centre operation on West Bell Street in the city centre which employs around 1,100 staff.

It now plans to add at least a further 122 jobs to its Dundee operation.

The firm has pledged all of its customer calls will be dealt with in UK and Ireland centres by 2020.

Marc Allera, chief executive of BT’s consumer business, said: “We’re continuing to invest across the UK to give our customers the best connections, service and experiences.

“These new roles will provide better job security, and will mean our people can focus on putting our customers first and offer the best help and support, whether on the phone or online.”

Aberdeen will benefit from 20 new jobs and an extra 50 staff will be based in Glasgow.

Workers in Dundee who are on fixedterm contracts will be offered permanent positions.

BT created 1,100 new roles in the UK last year, with around 50 advisers and 40 apprentices recruited to the Dundee customer service operation.

The firm’s call centres provide technical advice and account services.

Last year BT used its Dundee base to test new ways of supporting its 1.1 million business customers across the UK.

The Customer Experience Lab – a concept developed in collaboration with students at Abertay Business School – trialled innovative customer service solutions.

In May BT said it planned to cut 13,000 jobs over three years, about 12% of its workforce, as it sought to slim down its management and back-office roles.

However, it added that it would be hiring 6,000 employees to “support network deployment and customer service”.

A third of the job reductions will come from outside the UK in its Global Services division.

The FTSE 100 firm also announced it was recruiting 75 new apprenticeships in Scotland as part of a drive to recruit budding technical talent, with 13 based in Dundee.

Last month BT suffered a shareholder rebellion over outgoing chief executive Gavin Patterson’s bumper £2.3 million pay packet.

At its annual meeting in Edinburgh, 34% of investors rejected the payout which represented a £1m hike in his annual pay.

BT is in the process of looking for a new chief executive, with Mr Patterson due to leave later this year.

These new roles will provide better job security, and will mean our people can focus on putting our customers first and offer the best help and support

This week brought welcome news regarding the rocketing number of travellers to include a stop-off in Dundee on their itinerary. The city, it appears, is in the midst of a tourism boom, with a 10% year-on-year rise in visitor numbers recorded.

There are, of course, many spin-off benefits – not just for Dundee but also the surrounding area.

It is hoped that visitor numbers will soar yet further in coming months and years, with the long-anticipated V&A museum set to fling open its doors to the world next month.

To really capitalise on the current halo effect, however, both Dundee and its environs must ensure the area is not just a wonderful place to visit, but also an enviable place in which to live and work.

Job creation will be essential.

A growth in tourism will bring its own benefits in terms of employment, but there must also be sustainable, homegrown opportunities from which locals can benefit.

News today of over 120 new BT jobs in Dundee is welcome indeed.

The firm already has a strong base in the city, and the new roles will provide not only fresh opportunities but also additional comfort and security for the many already employed locally.

One hopes it is a sign of a strengthening, increasingly resilient, economy that will be so vital in the crucial months ahead.