back to article Vodafone to bring 2,100 customer service jobs in-house

Vodafone is to hire 2,100 more staffers in what appears to be a growing trend by telcos to improve customer service by bringing call centre roles back to Blighty. Over the next 24 months, Vodafone UK will create 800 jobs at the company's existing customer services centre in Manchester; 150 new jobs at its existing contact …

  1. Daedalus

    IT hokey cokey

    You bring your sourcing in

    You take your sourcing out

    You take all your employees

    And you shake them all about

    You do the sourcing fad dance and you turn them all around

    That's what it's all about.

    1. This post has been deleted by its author

  2. Doctor Syntax Silver badge

    "The move will also help boost Vodafone's image as a company that wants to stay in the UK, following its gaffe after the EU referendum when it hinted it might leave."

    Looking back at that report it concerned the location of the HQ currently in London. The location of call centres to support local customers is a separate issue.

    1. Len

      Agreed, I think it is far too early to know what they will ultimately decide. They will wait and see how the negotiations go and which parts of the EU we will keep and which parts we will leave. As a business a telco is far more nimble than an airline or bank who need years to prepare regulatory approval etc.

      Vodafone has already switched its P&L from Sterling to euro to better reflect the bulk of their business. That won't change after Brexit, their continental operation will probably become an even part of their revenue.

      Anyway, wherever Vodafone's HQ will be in a few years time, they will still need customer service roles in the UK

      1. AMBxx Silver badge

        There's the small matter of the huge tax credit they have on the balance sheet. They'll go nowhere until they've used it all up.

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Vodafone has already switched its P&L from Sterling to euro to better reflect the bulk of their business.

        In which case, hiring UK staff is now about 15% cheaper than it was a year ago.

  3. IsJustabloke
    Stop

    Vodashite

    that is all.

  4. cbars Bronze badge
    Joke

    This won't help

    I still won't be able to understand the accent of the Agent on the other end of the line!

  5. Your alien overlord - fear me

    Over the next 24 months, Vodafone UK will create 800 jobs at the company's existing customer services centre in Manchester; 150 new jobs at its existing contact centre in Newark; 150 new roles at its existing Stoke contact centre; and around 100 new roles at its existing Glasgow contact centre.

    That's a total of 1,200 new jobs, not 2,100.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      This could explain a lot about how they arrive at their tax calculations.

    2. Hans Neeson-Bumpsadese Silver badge

      I saw this story on the BBC website earlier, and they mentioned more locations than the El Reg article (Newcastle upon Tyne was definitiely included in the Beeb report but absent here). That might explain the discrepancy in the numbers

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Those figures are missing the additional staff at 'partners' in Cardiff, Newcastle & Glasgow I believe....

    4. macjules

      That's a total of 1,200 new jobs, not 2,100.

      Now you know what it means to get promised £120 compensation by Vodafone for their taking £1,800 out of your bank account for a £80 direct debit ... only for the compensation to fail to materialise. Vodafone and BT must be the only companies that, when you choose the 'I wish to cancel my service' option, put you on hold for 20 minutes to really wind you up.

      1. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

        "Vodafone and BT must be the only companies that, when you choose the 'I wish to cancel my service' option, put you on hold for 20 minutes to really wind you up."

        Oh no! TalkTalk calls you many times to discuss a better deal than what you can get normally. I will henceforth quit every single time the contract runs out.

        Works with NowTV etc as well. (Automated there)

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Minister for something

    Secretary of state for Culture Media and Sport Karen Bradley said blindly parroted the press release when she said: “Vodafone is one of our country's great international success stories and it’s fantastic this global organisation is demonstrating its confidence in the UK by creating new jobs across the north, in the Midlands, in Scotland and in Wales."

    "Now all it has to do is pay some tax", she didn't add.

    1. Aristotles slow and dimwitted horse

      Re: Minister for something

      You can't blame Bradley, she's just a poor MP and she's sticking to the script. Which is, somewhat ironically, what these new Vodaphoneys will be doing as soon as they get their padding feets under their desks and start answering calls.

      These are hardly "skilled" jobs are they.

  7. G R Goslin

    All change, but no change

    As a VERY ex customer of Vodafone, who has been mauled by the Customer Service Department, on a number of occasions, I can assure you that the in-house support staff are every bit as inept and useless as the off shore staff. About the only improvement will be that you can understand what they say while they're fobbing you off.

    1. phuzz Silver badge

      Re: All change, but no change

      Weird, I've been with them for years and years, and they've always managed to be ok. Not amazing certainly, but they've never managed to fuck anything up for me.

  8. Dan McIntyre

    As with G R Goslin above, I am a current customer of Vodafone who ended up getting the ombudsman involved over a series of errors on my account (which had 5 numbers on it) and extremely poor customer service and complaints handling.

  9. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    That'll be the Nick Jeffery who told various offices that their jobs were safe when Vodafail took over C&WW... a few months later and we were all out of the door and the sites closed...

  10. J. R. Hartley

    Meh

    Vodafone customer service droids are the lowest of the low. The scum of the fucking earth.

  11. John Brown (no body) Silver badge

    Nick Jeffery said: "These new, skilled roles

    Skilled roles? Really? Since when has customer support been a skilled role? The vast majority will be 1st line drones with scripts to follow, from which they are not allowed to vary. I supposed reading and speaking at the same time is technically a "skill".

  12. anonymous boring coward Silver badge

    It will be great for the rUK economy. People talking to each other, paying in to Vodafone, who pays their staff. This will genreate masses of wealth for the rUK.

  13. Cuddles

    In other news

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-39228698

    Vodafone to fire hundreds of UK employees. It's an interesting way to demonstrate their commitment and confidence in the UK.

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