IT was the worst-kept secret in town, but that didn’t make it any easier to accept.
Yesterday it was confirmed that the EE, formerly BT, call centre in Enniskillen was closing.
Staff members were told that the site would be shutting its doors for good during a morning meeting with a senior BT Group executive.
The proposed closure date is October 31. More than 300 are employed by the group.
“We’re being pushed out the door. They made the official announcement today and it didn’t come as much of a shock, to be honest,” an EE employee who preferred to remain anonymous said.
“It’s a bad situation to find ourselves in but there’s nothing we can do about it. It’s a sad way for it all to end, but it is what it is.”
Another disappointed employee, who also spoke anonymously, said that the group wasn’t prepared to be flexible to those who wanted to continue working with the company elsewhere.
“They said we could only work one day from home and the rest had to be in Belfast, which is impossible for people with families here. We never had any other option but to accept the payout.”
The payout in question was the Voluntary Paid Leavers’ Scheme that around 70 per cent of staff signed up for.
However, at a ‘Save Our Site’ public rally last month in Enniskillen, workers told how they had felt forced into accepting the offer due to the EE’s lack of clarity, which had left employees with many unanswered questions regarding the site’s future.
It is estimated that businesses in Enniskillen will now lose in the region of around £9 million in economic contribution due to the loss of the 300 jobs. Economy Minister Deirdre Hargey of Sinn Féin expressed her dismay at the announcement.
“It is extremely disappointing that BT has decided to close its Enniskillen contact centre with a loss of 300 jobs,” Ms Hargey said.
“As a major employer in the region for over three decades, this decision is devastating for the workers and their families, and also for the wider community. I have asked Invest NI to ensure every step possible is taken to support the staff impacted.”
A statement from the Fermanagh and South Tyrone Ulster Unionist Party said: “This decision follows what we suggest was a deliberate ambiguous exercise that BT/EE carried out with the workers, elected representatives and department officials that was deeply frustrating for the future of Enniskillen.”
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