Some of Idaho’s hard-to-find hiring activity can be found at customer service centers, often referred to broadly as “call” centers.

Some have come, gone or changed, but the need for the service that they provide does not disappear when the economy contracts.

Staffing services firm Manpower Inc. about two years ago conducted research that identified Boise as a hotbed for call centers, said Wendie Gregory, branch manager in Boise.

Factors included a comparatively low cost of living that suits many centers’ pay ranges and a talent pool that gained experience working in one of the city’s many established call centers. When one call center closes – Dell, for example, this year announced plans to close a center in Twin Falls – another often opens, she said.

“It seems like call centers are where the need is greater right now,” Gregory said. About 60 percent of Manpower’s job placements lately are in customer service call centers compared to a traditional mix of 60 percent industrial, 30 percent clerical and 10 percent call center positions, she said.

Many companies are going to business models in which customer service call centers play a larger role, she said. The companies may use them to replace walk-in service areas where customers paid bills and asked service-related questions, she said. Call center employees may place or field calls, take orders or execute technical tasks in a help-desk setting depending on the business that the company is in and how it sets up its service centers.

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