Sitel, a customer care outsourcing provider, told its Norman work force on Thursday that up to 370 employees could lose their jobs on Aug. 31.

Fortunately, that’s unlikely to happen. Before the day was out, other business prospects were making inquiries that would offset those losses.

The Norman facility is in the industrial park at 2701 Technology Place. Affected employees were provided more than 60 days advance notice to prepare for the change, according to a news release issued by the company, but Norman Economic Development Coalition Executive Director Don Wood said he does not believe the layoffs will happen.

“I’m very optimistic,” Wood said. “This is a well-performing center. They’ve been here 12 or 13 years through three different owners, and they’ve got a good employee base here who does their job well.”

Wood said the center’s excellent track record and available work force already has attracted the interest of new contractors. The workforce reduction announcement came about in response to a contract being pulled by Chase Bank, the company’s primary client, Wood said.

Chase Bank pulled all of its contract work and is doing all of the work in house now as a change in philosophy, he said.

In the long run, the change in contract could be a positive thing for Sitel and its Norman workforce, Wood said. This transition has created an opportunity for Sitel in Norman to diversify its customer base thus providing more stability.

“They are negotiating with a client that would replace the jobs that are there with hopes that (it) can be done before the current contract ends,” Wood said. “These are full-time jobs. We brought in a lead on a company that’s looking for a reservation center that could fill those positions.

“There’s multiple opportunities to rebook the business that is there. I know they’re working real hard on it.”

If any reduction is made, Sitel said it will partner with the local community to offer workforce transition activities such as resume writing and interview skill building workshops.

“We have been an active part of the Norman business community for 12 years, and the decision to reduce our presence did not come easy,” said Andrew Kokes, vice president for communications at Sitel. “This reduction is due to the changing business needs of our clients and is in no way reflective of the quality of customer care provided by our associates.”

“The current unemployment rate in Norman last month was about 3.2 percent which is one of the lowest in the state,” Wood said. “There are a lot of jobs in the area that are available for people. If they are not successful in finding a new contract, we’ll work to help place these employees with other companies.”

Sitel is a global company providing outsourced customer care services.

With more than 26 years of industry experience, Sitel has twice been ranked as the top overall call center outsourcing provider in Datamonitor’s annual Black Book of Outsourcing survey. Sitel’s 57,000 employees provide clients with predictable and measurable Return on their Customer Investment by building customer loyalty, increasing sales and improving efficiency, according to the company’s news release.

Sitel’s solutions span more than 120 domestic, nearshore, and offshore centers in 25 countries across North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Asia Pacific.

Sitel is a privately held and majority owned by Canadian diversified company, Onex Corp.

Joy Hampton writes for the Norman Transcript.