Newfoundland & Labrador’s call center industry, though small in comparison to larger provinces, is growing. In fact, it’s grown by 20 percent since January 1999. The Atlantic province’s cost-competitive operating environment is one of the major lures attracting that growth, but another is equally important: labor.
Newfoundland & Labrador’s per-capita labor pool, for instance, is Canada’s largest, provincial development officials say. Unemployment last year approached 17 percent. What’s more, the province’s population ranks among the most educated in the world, with 40 percent of the population age 25 and over possessing some form of post-secondary education. In the city of St. John’s, the provincial capital, the percentage is even higher — 51.7 percent.
In addition, the people of Newfoundland & Labrador are very loyal to their jobs. A 1998 Stentor Resource Center study showed the average job tenure for call center agents in the province to be nine years. In some high-turnover markets in the United States, the average job tenure for call center operators is closer to nine months than nine years.
The province’s low operating costs, though, are a significant benefit as well. Independent studies by leading international consultants confirm that Newfoundland & Labrador has one of the lowest operating cost environments in North America and Western Europe. In 1996, Coopers & Lybrand Consulting concluded that the province’s two major cities (St. John’s and Corner Brook) have the lowest employment and labor costs for call centers among some 19 major call center locations in North America. In 1998 and 1999, St. John’s was ranked by KPMG Consulting as one of the most cost-competitive places to do business among 42 cities in North America and Europe.
Provincial call center wage rates average US$4.16 to $6.90 per hour — well below U.S. figures.
New Investments
The latest addition to Newfoundland & Labrador’s call center industry is International Business Directories, a Canadian provider of specialty business communications directories and national reference publications for Canada, the United States and the UK. International Business Directories operates an outbound sales and marketing center in St. John’s.
Other recent moves include Montreal-based Merchant Transaction Supplies’ selection of St. John’s for an outbound center that will eventually employ about 120 full-time staff. The company markets point-of-sale transaction paper and supplies to Canadian and U.S. business markets.
1999’s biggest success story was Fonemed Canada, the Canadian affiliate of Fonemed North America. The firm (the first U.S. company to establish a call center in the province) chose St. John’s for a 24-hour inbound nurse advice service. Fonemed Canada services markets in both Canada and the United States.
For more information on call center opportunities in Newfoundland & Labrador, visit NETWORK Newfoundland & Labrador’s Website at www.netwk.nf.ca. The organization is a partnership between the province (www.success.nfld.net) and telecom provider Newtel Communications, which offers a full range of leading-edge technology services.
— by Tim Venable
