Cendant Corporation to Recruit 250 New Employees

Mary Harney, Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, today (Friday 6th October 2000) said that two hundred and fifty jobs are to be created within the next three months at the Cendant Corporation’s International Customer Contact Centre at Loughmahon Technology Park in Cork.

Announcing the company’s new recruitment drive the Tánaiste said "the continued expansion by Cedant is an important development particularly as Ireland has had to compete with 15 other sites in 9 countries before Cedant decided to build its state-of-the-art facility in Cork".

RCI is the world’s leading Timeshare Exchange and Travel Organisation which is a subsidiary of Cendant Corporation. The company already employs over 500 people at the Cork facility offering a range of holiday, travel and hospitality services.

The Cork Centre services RCI’s European customers, supports its U.K. operations and latterly has been selected to support RCI’s U.S. marketplace which has the company’s largest membership and customer base.

The Tánaiste said that "Two hundred of the new employees will support this U.S. initiative. RCI anticipates filling the majority of these English-speaking positions from the local Cork area. In addition, a further 50 employees will be recruited to support RCI’s expanding European business and these positions will be offered to Call Centre Agents fluent in any one of a wide range of European languages".

"This will bring the staff complement to about 750 and I am very optimistic that there is scope for further significant employment growth such is the nature of Cendant and RCI’s experience in Cork to date", the Tánaiste added.

Mike McNeill, General Manager of the Customer Contact Centre also confirmed his optimism about further employment growth at the Centre.

"We have had a very good experience in Cork and Ireland and given the nature of the business of RCI and Cedant, we believe there is tremendous potential for growing the numbers of those employed", Mr. McNeill said.

The Loughmahon facility is a major addition to Cork’s industrial infrastructure and according to Mike McNeill, it is not just the most sophisticated call centre technology available but the skills of both the local and European staff at the Centre which have made is so successful.

"We have been very impressed by the linguistic skills of our Irish workforce but also by their customers-care abilities. We have met and exceeded our business targets and the decision to create these extra jobs within a tight time frame reflects a significant fast-forwarding of our plans for the Cork Centre", said Mr. Neill.