American Express shifting some jobs away from Atlanta

Workers affected will lose their jobs at the end of June.

American Express is shifting a number of jobs from Atlanta to other hubs, aiming to consolidate service operations where there is more “infrastructure,” the company has confirmed.

The company said some employees had been “displaced” but declined to say how many. The company is not offering them an option of moving with the positions, and the workers will lose their jobs at the end of June, said a corporate spokeswoman and employees interviewed by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Employees are permitted to apply for other jobs within the company, the spokeswoman said.

The jobs being moved are primarily customer service positions. In the United States, the spokeswoman said, the company has concentrated groups of customer service workers in Phoenix and Sunrise, Florida, a Fort Lauderdale suburb.

Employees at the company said they were told that some positions also were being moved to India, where AmEx plans to open a nearly 1 million square foot office later this month.

In summer 2020, AmEx bought Atlanta-based Kabbage, which had developed cash flow management software for small businesses. At the time, AmEx said that “with the addition of Kabbage’s technology, products and people,” it could offer more tools to “millions of small business customers.”

The former Kabbage employees were many of those whose jobs were cut, said some of the employees affected.

Employees said it was hard to tell how widespread the coming cuts will be because the company had given them limited information and that it was impossible to know how many people working from home were affected.

While not disclosing the number of jobs involved, the company said it was fewer than 100.

“This represents a small portion of our total colleague base in Georgia, and we remain committed to maintaining our presence in Atlanta,” the company said in a statement.

Employees said they were reluctant to speak for the record because they were losing jobs that are slated to continue — along with pay and benefits — until June 28.

If they stay until then, they say, they will be given a severance, with the amount dependent on how long they have been with the company.

The New York-based financial giant with offices around the world last year had revenues of $60.5 billion.

It only recently moved into its current Midtown office in Atlanta and will continue to have a significant presence here, the spokeswoman said.

AmEx currently is advertising to hire for several engineering positions in Atlanta.

FILE