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JP Morgan Chase Launches "Virtual but Local" Contact Center in Detroit
Many companies today are using virtual call centers – essentially, a group of agents working from their homes. It’s a great way to expand talent pools geographically and offer flexible work conditions to attract talent. Fewer companies are are launching “local, but virtual” call centers – a pool of agents working from home in one geographic area.
Finance giant J.P. Morgan Chase recently announced one such call center in the Detroit area.
While agents will do their bread-and-butter work from home, their proximity to downtown Detroit ensures they have access to the facilities needed for hiring, onboarding, training and meetings. Agents will do their training at the Chase Community Center in Corktown.
In addition to adding a customer support infrastructure for the bank, it supports the local community and economy by extending job opportunities to local residents with the same benefits as more geographically dispersed remote call centers.
The Detroit News reports that the new call center will create dozens of jobs that will pay $22.50 per hour for Detroiters to work from home, with an annual benefits package worth about $16,000. The new call center concept is part of a $200 million investment in Detroit that began in 2014. The full-time roles also come with tuition assistance for local residents who are primarily from underserved neighborhoods.
“It was actually nine years ago (October 2013) when our CEO called me up and said I want you to go to Detroit and see what we could do to help,” said Peter Scher, vice chairman of JPMorgan Chase & Co. “Detroit had just entered bankruptcy and there were a lot of challenges and right around the mayoral election. The problems were apparent but so was the potential. We saw the community and governmental leaders to join forces and tackle the challenges. It was a core belief that the city can't come back unless the neighborhoods come back, which is what inspired us to our $200 million investment."
In addition to serving underserved neighborhoods, bank officials noted that the call center will support second-chance opportunities for people with criminal backgrounds, as the company has removed all questions about criminal backgrounds from job applications, providing a clean slate for non-violent arrests.
Edited by Erik Linask
