More than 800 layoffs planned

Sitel Corp., a call center operation in Pompano Beach, has issued a notice to the state of Florida that it plans to lay off 804 workers in February.

Located at 2528 NW 19th St., Sitel said the layoff would be between Feb. 14 and 28, according to the Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification posted Friday. Sitel couldn’t be reached for comment.

City manager Dennis Beach said the company informed the city that it was cutting the workforce because it had lost some contracts.

The Nashville, Tenn.based company just set up the customer service center in Pompano Beach in September 2015, when it said it was hiring 1,000 employees.

Dahlia Baker, CRA program director in Pompano Beach, said she placed 76 local workers at the call center whose primary client was Capital One. “I’ve been sending people there since June,” she said. “I didn’t hear anything [about the layoff]. That’s a big downsizing.”

The company wasn’t awarded any financial incentives but did benefit from recruiting services through CareerSource Broward, which placed 380 workers with Sitel over 2015 and 2016, according to Tony Ash, vice president of communications and business relations at the county’s workforce agency.

“It was shocking to us,” Ash said about Sitel’s layoff, though he added that call centers are among those industries that historically have high turnover.

Ash said the agency is reaching out to do a “rapid response” with workers who lose their jobs, to ensure they’re aware of CareerSource Broward’s services for jobs and training. More information can be found at careersourcebroward.com

Sitel also issued a layoff notice in Alabama, where it is closing its call center in Covington County, which employed more than 500 people, according to multiple news reports.