AT&T Cuts Ribbon On New Call Center In Horner Park
CHICAGO (CBS) -- AT&T has unveiled a newly renovated call center in the Horner Park neighborhood, and planned to bring in 500 new jobs.
Mayor Rahm Emanuel and Gov. Bruce Rauner helped cut the ribbon on the state of the art facility, AT&T's first new call center in more than a decade.
Emanuel and Rauner said Chicago beat out other cities because of its number one asset: a highly-educated tech savvy workforce.
AT&T officials said they chose Illinois because they like the direction of the investment climate for telecom industries.
The telecommunications giant already has hired 300 people, and plans to hire 200 more by the end of the year.
"These centers have a ripple effect in the community. The jobs are a great part of it. We have 300, we're growing to 500, but we love to volunteer our time. Over 100,000 hours in the last couple of years. We love to have kids from the local high schools come through and tour the contact centers, and we hope that someday they'll want to work here too," AT&T vice president of customer service Jamie Barton said.
AT&T said the new facility is the most highly-advanced call center in its history, and will handle millions of customer service calls a year.
