The Neil Squire Society’s Atlantic region and Sitel (new window), a global leader in outsourced customer support services, have forged a new partnership in Moncton (new window), New Brunswick (new window), a city on the rise. The seeds of this partnership were planted nearly two years ago when Bev Grasse, Employment Specialist for the Atlantic region, first met with a representative from Sitel (new window). However, for many months, the conditions were just not quite right for growing this new partnership. Then, by chance, the right catalyst happened to come along. Someone who the Neil Squire Society staff had met with and talked to about our services was hired by Sitel (new window) as a recruiter. From that time on, the partnership began to flourish.

Sitel (new window) is a large, international company with over 145 contact centres in twelve countries and approximately 67,000 associates worldwide. The Moncton (new window) contact centre, which does both inbound and outbound calls, has over 650 associates. It provides outsourced customer support services for Bell Television (new window), XM Radio (new window), and even Kentucky Fried Chicken (new window). Although, 650 associates sounds like a very large number, Sitel (new window) in Moncton (new window) is still growing. Before this holiday season, Sitel (new window) is looking to hire one hundred more associates for both unilingual and bilingual positions. The Neil Squire Society hopes to play an important role in filling those gaps.

With the magnitude of their company, Sitel (new window) has had difficulty finding enough qualified people to fill so many positions. When Sitel’s (new window) new recruiter told those in charge of hiring about the Neil Squire Society, they jumped at the opportunity to benefit from the untapped labour force of highly skilled people represented by the Neil Squire Society. Now, before the start of each orientation and training session for new employees, Sitel’s (new window) Employment Coordinator will contact the Neil Squire Society and consult with Bev Grasse, our Employment Specialist, to see if we have any qualified individuals interested in working for Sitel (new window).

This is really a win-win situation for all those involved. The Neil Squire Society client gets a fast track to meaningful employment with the potential for full benefits, bypassing the initial screening process and going right into orientation and training. Sitel (new window) gets hardworking, highly skilled individuals to fill their vacant positions. And the Neil Squire Society takes a step toward economic and social inclusion for all people with disabilities by creating opportunities through this great employer partnership.

Even more exciting is that the partnership with Sitel (new window) in Moncton (new window) is only the first step. Sitel (new window) also operates a contact centre in Saint John (new window) and is looking to expand to home based customer support services in various regions of New Brunswick (new window) as well. These both represent excellent employment opportunities for individuals with disabilities, and Bev Grasse, Employment Specialist, will be working hard over the next few months to nurture this growing partnership.