This news broke last week while I was working the TechDays events in Cork and Galway. I was speaking to someone in HP afterwards and I was told that these would not be the “high skilled/high tech” jobs that politicians and lazy journalists cling to. Instead, they are call centre jobs. Ask any graduate the job they least want to do and it’s call centre work. It’s not what they planned as their career choice – in fact, if they had a time travelling machine they’d probably change their college course if they knew they’d end up answering the phone after 4 years of college education.
But it is at least some bright spot of good news in a brutal economy. For you non-Irish readers, we’re having a double economic disaster. There is the global economic thing and there is also our own local meltdown too. I heard 12% being mentioned as our unemployment rate at the moment on the TV this morning.
I’m left wondering what this call centre will be doing for HP. Anyone who has dealt with HP’s India-based call centre has complained immediately afterwards. HP has failed to get it right over there. Strange because MS seems to have done a good job. 9 out of 10 times I deal with PSS in India I’m happy. Maybe it’s a company attitude. Of course, having a phone line that doesn’t crackle and where the volume of the phone line is decent too will help. With any luck, HP will move their enterprise H/W support for EMEA to Ireland.