Two Call Centers in Baton Rouge Closing, 925 To Be Laid Off

I can't imagine that working at a call center and listening to complaints all day is a fun or rewarding job. But at least it is a job. Or it used to be. Here is the Baton Rouge Advocate with the details:

The Home Depot will lay off 225 customer-support and distribution-facility workers in Baton Rouge over the next 18 months, the Atlanta-based home improvement retailer said Thursday.

None of Home Depot’s retail locations, which employ about 800 people, are affected by the announcement.

The announcement, however, comes several months after the company said it would phase out 400 call center employees in Baton Rouge through this year, which raises the total Home Depot-related jobs being lost in the coming months to 625.

The announcement also comes just two days after Ohio-based Convergys Corp. said it will close its Baton Rouge call center and lay off 300 workers.

Home Depot spokesman Stephen Holmes said 90 workers at Home Depot’s distribution facility for online purchases and 135 in sales, purchasing and finance for company subsidiary Your Other Warehouse were informed of their layoffs Thursday.

It's obviously not a great day in Baton Rouge.


Bonus: An appropriate ditty from the last Lou Reed album worth hearing