ST. CATHARINES – Transcom has announced it’s adding 158 mainly seasonal positions to its St. Catharines call centre.

This, only a week after a week-old confirmation from Sitel it’s hiring 300 new workers in the Garden City.

“It’s a good news story,” said Transcom spokeswoman Caroline Spivak.

“Transcom is looking very positively at the Canadian marketplace as far as the staff availability, the skills present, the opportunities available – and certainly the client-service opportunities that will be created for those people.”

The new jobs will take in-bound calls at Transcom’s 80 King St. site in mainly order-and-data-entry and some customer service for a variety of clients.

The jobs — some of which will be permanent — will pay $10.50 an hour, with the potential for performance bonuses. A benefit package is also provided for permanent employees.

Permanent positions “will be contingent on people’s skill sets and how they perform, and a number of variables,” Spivak said.

She said at least 20 of the new positions will require bilingualism in French and English.

Hiring has started now and some part-and-full time positions that could continue until early into the new year.

It’s part of the Luxumbourg-based multinational company’s intention to hire a total of 603 new jobs in Ontario, with immediate opportunities available in the Garden City, Barrie, Brockville, and London.

The seasonal work is to support Transcom clients in the retail industry, financial services and telecommunications industry.

“You can appreciate as we move into the holiday shopping season, all of those industries ramp up just to meet demand,” Spivak said.

Transcom, which has been in St. Catharines for about 13 years, currently has about 300 local workers.

Sitel has also said it is adding at least 150 permanent jobs and 150 more temporary jobs in a hiring blitz at its Ontario Street site to last a little over a month.

Sitel has said people interested in applying for the inbound support service jobs can do so online at www.sitel.com

Transcom applicants can visit www.transcom.com/work

Source: Welland Tribune