Lenovo Friday announced a new agreement with Affiliated Computer Services (ACS) to expand its Global Services business, which the two companies say will add approximately 300 new jobs in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina.
Lenovo is teaming up with ACS, now a subsidiary of Xerox, to bolster the computer maker's customer service and call center efforts. And instead of moving these efforts offshore – to, say, China for example – Lenovo is adding those new jobs in the Research Triangle region of North Carolina (Lenovo's U.S. headquarters is in Morrisville, N.C.).
"We've heard from partners that we need more support staff," said Peter Bartolotta, senior vice president of Lenovo Global Services. "We decided to keep our call center onshore rather than offshore, despite it being more expensive. But that's what our partners wanted. They didn't want us to be like some of our competitors who've moved their operations offshore."
Lenovo said it will add 50 of the 300 new jobs at its Morrisville campus, while the other 250 positions will be added by ACS in North Carolina; ACS's parent company Xerox employs around 3,600 people in the state already. The two companies said ACS will support Lenovo customers in the U.S., Canada, Australia and New Zealand with telephone, e-mail and web chat services, offering technical support, service order management and other logistics.
Bartolotta said Lenovo has been working on enhancing its customer service and support operations for more than a year, and ultimately partnered with ACS because the company offered the best call center technology and services.
Lenovo held a press conference Friday with North Carolina Gov. Bev Perdue to announce the new jobs. “Lenovo exemplifies how the state of North Carolina and a global company started in China can mutually benefit from the high-tech, highly innovative workforce we’ve cultivated here in the Triangle region,” said Gov. Perdue in a press statement. “Not only does this business expansion bring significant new employment opportunities to North Carolinians, but it will create a larger ripple effect across our state’s economy.”
