Congressman Rick Boucher hosts Gary Qualls, Vice President of the satellite TV company Boucher introduced to Southwest Virginia which is now creating 100 jobs in a virtual call center in our region.

BOUCHER ANNOUNCES 100 NEW JOBS FOR SOUTHWEST VIRGINIA

Boucher’s Showcasing Southwest Virginia Program Brings DIRECTV Virtual Call Center to the Region

            (Washington, D.C.) – U.S. Representative Rick Boucher announced today the creation of 100, new technology based jobs for Southwest Virginia.

            “I am pleased to announce that DIRECTV will operate a virtual call center in Southwest Virginia, hiring 100 of our region’s residents to serve as remote agents. The virtual call center marks another major success not only for my Showcasing Southwest Virginia Program in its effort to create new jobs for our region’s residents by attracting top-tier companies to the area, but also for my longstanding work to expand our region’s broadband infrastructure with the goal of creating new technology jobs. The 100 new jobs announced today have been made possible by the widespread availability of high-speed Internet services in Southwest Virginia,” Boucher said.

            The new virtual call center will be part of DIRECTV’s Remote Agent Program, which is a growing segment of the company’s customer service operations. Currently, DIRECTV employs 1,120 remote agents, representing 12 percent of the company’s total call center staff. In fact, the program has proved to be so successful that DIRECTV saw a 100 percent increase in remote agent staffing last year.

            Congressman Boucher brought DIRECTV to Southwest Virginia through his Showcasing Southwest Virginia Program. “My office began working with DIRECTV nearly 5 years ago when we hosted the company for a tour of several sites in the Ninth District for traditional call centers. When the need arose to expand the company’s Remote Agent Program, DIRECTV remembered our region’s excellent workforce, widespread broadband availability and outstanding training resources. In January, I hosted the company on another tour to explore the potential for creating a virtual call center here. We visited three regions of the Ninth Congressional District to survey the access to high-speed Internet services, the workforce and training opportunities,” Boucher said.

            “The tour was a tremendous success, and as a result, DIRECTV has decided to operate a virtual call center in Southwest Virginia, hiring agents from across the three regions of the Ninth District—in the aCorridor region, the Virginia Coalfield Economic Development Authority region and the New River Valley Alliance region,” Boucher continued.

            DIRECTV and its call center partner Convergys will begin hiring 100 qualified individuals from Southwest Virginia right away. Training will take place in April, and the new remote agents will begin taking calls in May. Agents will take calls related to billing and account management, including review of packages and pricing and account changes.

            The individuals hired as remote agents will receive an average wage of $10 per hour, with the potential to earn an additional $650 per month based on performance. The agents will enjoy benefits including paid holidays and vacations; medical, dental, and vision coverage with company contribution after 60 days; basic life insurance; flexible spending accounts; tuition reimbursement; 401K with a company match; and free DIRECTV. “These are the same wages and benefits available to DIRECTV agents who are based in the company’s bricks-and-mortar call centers. The remote agents, however, have the benefit of not having to travel to work or pay for related expenses such as work apparel and meals out,” Boucher noted.

            “The remote agents hired by DIRECTV are able to work from home due to the high-speed Internet access available in many communities throughout our region. More than 15 years ago, I began encouraging local governments throughout the Ninth District to find a means of deploying broadband networks so that affordable high-speed Internet access would be available to businesses and residents. My goal in making this recommendation was to set our region apart in comparison to other rural areas of the nation, to make us more attractive than the typical rural region to industries looking to expand their operations into new locations and to create technology based jobs for Southwest Virginians. Today’s announcement is the result of the significant strides our region has made in deploying broadband,” Boucher concluded.

            Individuals interested in these positions should attend one of the job fairs scheduled throughout the region:

April 6

9 AM-2 PM - Southwest Virginia Technology Development Center

                                    Lebanon, Virginia

4 PM-8 PM                Mountain Empire Community College

                                    Big Stone Gap, Virginia

April 7

9 AM-2 PM                Bluefield State

                                    Bluefield, Virginia

4 PM-7 PM                New River Community College

                                    Dublin, Virginia

            Read Congressman Boucher's remarks from his announcements in Abingdon, Bluefield or Christiansburg.

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