DirecTV jobs to offer quality benefits, moderate pay

Tulsa is on the receiving end of more call center jobs. Satellite TV provider, DirecTV, is opening a new call center in east Tulsa and hiring 1,300 people. <br/><br/>As News on 6 business reporter Steve

Monday, May 24th 2004, 6:22 pm

By: News On 6

Tulsa is on the receiving end of more call center jobs. Satellite TV provider, DirecTV, is opening a new call center in east Tulsa and hiring 1,300 people.

As News on 6 business reporter Steve Berg tells us, the number of new jobs alone is enough to make headlines. But it's also a big improvement for the 21st and Sheridan area and great news for surrounding businesses.

Braum's Manager Myra McClure likes the idea of 1,300 hungry potential customers working next door. â€œIt means a lot of pickup on our business, we need it." Braum's is part of what the Chamber of Commerce likes to call the multiplier effect, businesses that benefit from other businesses being in town or close by. "Yes they do, from the AutoZone all of these come around, all the people the PSO, the ONG around the corner, they come around also.â€

For Tulsans who are currently out of work, this means there are now hundreds more hiring opportunities for them. There will definitely be people hungry for work. And city leaders celebrated the hearty offering of jobs.

Tulsa Mayor Bill LaFortune: "1,300 jobs, will immediately launch DirecTV into position as one of Tulsa's biggest employers." Besides the hundreds of new jobs, DirecTV is going to take a vacant and frankly, shabby-looking site and invest $5 to $10-million to create a state-of-the-art call center.

Gary Qualls with DirecTV: "When we say state-of-the-art, we're not just coining a phrase; we're going to build a center that we're going to be proud to have people working in." DirecTV says they'll provide workers with specially designed heating and ventilation systems and ergonomically friendly workstations among other niceties.

They say the city in return gives them a good setting. Tulsa has a long history of call centers, in the past because of cheaper phone costs, but simply being in the Central Time Zone is good for call centers. "It helps us wake up with the East Coast and put them to bed so to speak, and then put the West Coast to bed."

DirecTV has more information on their web site at www.directv.com.