700 News Jobs at New Call Centers in Eastern Turkey
The job-hungry East and Southeast Anatolia regions have witnessed the opening of three call centers over the weekend in the impoverished provinces of Bingöl, Bitlis and Elazığ. Coupled with a cheap labor force, government incentives for companies investing in the region are also helping. However, it seems that company executives need to learn a lot regarding ethnic sensitivities
The number of call center investments in East and Southeast Anatolia is rising, as the job-hungry region provides a young and cheap labor force for companies. Three call centers in the eastern provinces of Bitlis, Bingöl and Elazığ were opened with ceremonies over the weekend, creating a total of 700 jobs.
The Callpex call center was opened in the eastern province of Bingöl with a ceremony that was attended by Transportation Minister Binali Yıldırım and State Minister Cevdet Yılmaz on Friday. The center aims to provide jobs to 1,000 people by the end of 2012, according to the company.
However, Callpex general manager’s statements at the ceremony were at odds with growing sensitivity in Turkey to regional dialects and native languages, including Kurdish.
Noting that proper diction, communication skills and computer knowledge are a must, Oğuz Taşkent said the company aims to “lessen the use of Kurdish and increasing the computer skills of employees.” He added that Callpex prefers employing women, as they “do not have a heavy Kurdish accent.”
“Callpex invested in Bingöl for its low costs [but also for] social responsibility purposes,” Taşkent said. “In addition to incentives provided by the government, our company invested 1 million liras to create 150 jobs.”
Government support
Reminding that the government pays the social security premiums from the unemployment fund in investments to the region, Taşkent said the cost of an employee is lower in the east. “Transportation and living conditions here also decrease the total cost for companies. A little advantage in total costs is crucial for us.”
Transport Minister Yıldırım attended the opening ceremonies of the Plus Telekom call center in Bitlis, Callpex in Bingöl and Vodafone call center in Elazığ over the weekend. Speaking in Bingöl, the minister said the government aims to increase job opportunities in the east.
The call center of Plus Telekom in Bitlis will employ 250 people in the first phase, which is expected to reach 1,000 gradually.
Callpex in Bingöl starts with 150 jobs. Callpex has already signed agreements with Vestel, Turkey’s leading home appliances company, TTNet, an Internet service provider owned by Türk Telekom, Pegasus Airlines and Turkish mobile phone operator Avea. The company aims to increase the number of deals with companies to 10 by the end of 2012.
Vodafone Turkey also opened a call center covering 3,800 square meters in the eastern province of Elazığ over the weekend. The center, which started with 250 employees, gradually will increase its figure to 500.
The Elazığ call center, which cost about 20 million Turkish Liras, aims to contribute to regional economic and social development, according to Serpil Timuray, the chief executive officer of Vodafone Turkey. “Within our social responsibility, we continue our investments with the belief that Anatolia has to get a its fair share from investments.”
Vodafone aims to become the leading employer in the service sector in Elazığ by doubling the number of jobs it has created in the province and increasing its total investment in the medium term.
“We have paved the way for the private sector and so they are investing, providing services for local residents,” Minister Yıldırım said, speaking at the opening ceremony of the Vodafone call center. “We aim to create 1 million jobs in eastern and southeastern Anatolia. We will achieve this target with the collaboration of the private sector.”
Sunday, March 6, 2011
SOURCE: Hürriyet Daily News
