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IBM is taking advantage of tax rebates in Boulder, Colo., and hiring 500 customer service call center workers over the next five years, say news reports from the AP, Wall Street Journal, Daily Camera and Longmont Times-Call.
The 500 jobs will come between now and 2014, said the Daily Camera, a locally published Boulder media outlet. IBM qualified for the rebates after passing environmental and community standards. The company retrofitted 22,000 square feet of space in a 62,000 square-foot space.
Call center job salaries in the area range from $23,000 to $38,000 a year, according to analysis by the Longmont Times-Call.
The Daily Camera wrote on the jobs:
“Frances Draper, executive director of the Boulder Economic Council, said the expansion shows IBM’s stake in staying in Boulder. “What it really indicates to us is that IBM corporate is feeling like Boulder is a key site for their operation,” she said. “That says that IBM supports this site in the long run.” Draper said the 500 jobs being created “probably aren’t going to be the highest-paying jobs in the county by any means,” but they will still be good jobs that come with training and stability.“
IBM has taken a lot of heat in 2009 from its union and former employees after shedding an estimated 10,000 jobs. The exact figure of layoffs this year is not known, as IBM does not publicly announce its restructuring or job cuts, but former employees have well documented the occurrence of layoffs. Many workers have been forced to train employees in Asia and other countries who replaced many employees in North America.