Last call center workers once tied to ICT Group will lose their jobs in May

The last vestige of ICT Group’s once-massive call center operation is closing this spring.

Sykes Enterprises, which acquired ICT Group in 2010, has announced its laying off its last 148 Spokane Valley call center workers in late May.

At one time, ICT Group had more than 1,200 workers handling calls at the University City Mall.

After acquiring ICT Group, Sykes began making adjustments to the Spokane workforce.

In 2012, Sykes laid off about 170 workers. At that point the work group had moved out of the U-City buildings.

Sykes Enterprises spokeswoman Andrea Burnett Thomas said the decision is part of ongoing business practices, including helping clients find the right level of effective support services. Those Spokane Valley jobs are not being transferred to another city, Thomas said.

Sykes has more than 80 call centers in more than 20 countries, said Thomas.

Most of its clients are in telecommunications, financial services and tech services.

Thomas said she could not divulge details of severance packages for the Spokane Valley workers. They will be invited, she added, to apply for at-home call service contracts. Like many other call center companies, Sykes uses home-based workers who provide the same inbound or outbound calls as office workers do.