An American call center company located in Ottawa is slowly laying off hundreds of workers.

Convergys tells CTV News, 600 employees remain but another 400 will be cut by April 18th.

The company is moving the work to the Philippines.


Operations manager Paul Carr says there is no sign of a new contract in Ottawa to provide work for their employees.

They have been holding job fairs at their Heron Road offices where other call center companies have come to see who they might hire.

The city of Ottawa recently passed a motion urging city staff to see what could be done to keep the jobs in Ottawa.

The director for a call center in Pocatello says the business is laying off part of its staff.

In a press release Jesse Reinhold, director for Mountain West Research Center, says there will be a "reduction in force" and a "short term workforce realignment...stemming from the economic downturn." When Local News 8 asked him how many people were being laid off, he would only say a full force consists of 75 people.

In the release Reinhold says the reduced staff will continue to service existing clients and he hopes it will be short lived. Mountain West Research Center has been in Pocatello since 1995.