EarthLink to Close 4 Call Centers
EarthLink will close contact center operations at four locations and scale down a fifth in a restructuring effort that will reduce its workforce by 1,300 employees, the company said yesterday.The centers expected to close are in Roseville, CA; San Jose, CA; Pasadena, CA; and Harrisburg, PA. EarthLink plans to complete the closures by the end of this year.
The company will reduce the operations of its contact center in Atlanta. Details of the reduction were not disclosed.
Functions supported by the closed centers will be rerouted to the remaining Atlanta staff or outsourced to third-party teleservices providers. EarthLink expects to incur restructuring costs of $36 million, including employee-related and lease-termination costs, as a result of the closures.
Expenses saved as a result of the closures will be dedicated to increasing EarthLink's subscriber base. The company said the restructuring costs would affect its previously stated projection of $31 million to $63 million in net income for 2004 and that more details would be provided when it announces its fourth-quarter 2003 results in late January.
