Dell to hire 250 for new Edmonton call centre

EDMONTON— Dell Inc. has announced plans for a new 132,000- square- foot building for its Edmonton call centre, whose staff will expand by 250 to 1,000. The American computer maker said yesterday that the three- storey building in Research Park is to be completed late next summer.

Dell currently occupies space in downtown Edmonton for the customer contact centre it opened last year. It currently has 750 people, up from the 500 technical support positions when it opened. The company, which announced in August it will open a 500- job call centre in Ottawa early in 2006, also has Canadian offices in Toronto and Montreal.

Dell has 27 call centres worldwide and 12-month revenue of $52.8 billion ( U. S.). The Edmonton facility provides technical support and customer service for businesses and consumers in Canada and the United States.

“ We have been very impressed with the quality of the candidates we’ve hired and the performance of the team,” stated Karen Quintos, general manager of Dell Americas contact centre operations. “ This talented team . . . can support a variety of customers with complex issues.” The new Edmonton jobs call for customerservice skills and knowledge of Microsoft software, computer hardware, accessories and peripherals.

“ Having Dell in our community has been an outstanding economic driver,” Edmonton Mayor Stephen Mandel said in a statement.

“ We have seen growth not only in the number of jobs that is now double the original projections, but also in the scope and complexity of the jobs.”