Jean-Paul Huchon of the Ile de France regional council
CITIZENSIDE / NICOLAS KOVARIK
As a deluge of job losses hits France, François Hollande’s government has been embarrassed by the decision of a Socialist-controlled regional council to scrap a contract with two French call-centres in favour of one in Morocco. The case could become a symbol of the Socialists’ difficulties in tackling economic crisis in a globalised economy.
The mainstream right-wing opposition UMP and the far-right Front National are crying “hypocrite” over the decision by the Ile de France regional transport network, Stif, to switch its customer relations helpline to a call centre in Morocco.
Stif is the public transport network covering Paris and the surrounding region, with a population of over 12 million people.
Webhelp, the company that has run the line up until now, did so from two call centres, one in Fontenay-le-Comte in the western Vendée region, the other in Saint-Avold in Moselle near the German border.
It provided work for 80 of the 200 employees at the two sites, it says.
Many companies, including Webhelp, operate call centres in French-speaking countries like Morocco where labour is cheaper, just as British and American helplines are often run from India or other former British colonies.
In June Industrial Recovery Minister Arnaud Montebourg called on telecoms operators to repatriate call centres based abroad and lashed companies that shed jobs in France and relocate abroad during his campaign to become his party’s presidential candidate.
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