ACC wants to shut down two call centres

8:56 am on 24 May 2017

ACC is proposing axing two of its call centres, meaning dozens of people could lose their jobs if they're not prepared to move to other locations or into other roles.

A close-up of a man's hand dialing numbers on a landline phone

Photo: 123RF

The government agency informed its staff late last week that it wants to shut its call centres in Wellington and Auckland and operate out of its Dunedin and Hamilton sites from early next year.

A total of 87 workers - 64 in Wellington and 23 in Auckland - would be affected.

ACC chief operating officer Jim Stabback said it was still consulting with staff, but if the plan went ahead, the organisation would work with affected employees to move them to the Hamilton or Dunedin centres, or into other roles in their current location.

"Our first preference will be to find other opportunities for those people in ACC if that's in fact what they wanted to do, or if they wanted to relocate to either of those locations we would support that as well," he said.

"Of course that might not be possible and people might choose to leave the organisation, but the number of people that fall into those categories we can't yet determine."

ACC said the move would cut leasing costs and would also reduce spending on training, as turnover was lower in the regional sites.

But Mr Stabback said the main aim was to improve customer service.

"We think we can deliver a more consistent service experience from a more stable workforce in Hamilton and Dunedin.

"Our expectation is that the number of people that we would employ across those two locations would be the same number as we employ today, so that's about 157 in two locations instead of four."

A final decision will be made next month.

- An earlier version of this story said Jim Stabback was chief executive of ACC

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