Ford Motor’s closing latest in back-office job loss

The loss of some 200 jobs at Ford Motor Credit's Henderson office underscores the need for any sort of job creation in Southern Nevada, even in an industry that once drew scorn for its relatively low pay scale.

While a few companies have recently opened new call centers in Las Vegas, the economy overall has lost thousands of back-office jobs that typically pay $30,000 to $40,000 a year. Internet ads for Ford Motor Credit were dangling salaries as high as $54,000 for "team leaders."

Many of the displaced Ford Motor Credit employees from Las Vegas will be absorbed at other regional offices, the two closest being Colorado Springs, Colo., and Irving, Texas, said Margaret Mellott, spokeswoman for Ford in Michigan.

Ford Motor Credit has downsized its global workforce from 19,000 employees to about 7,000 in the past decade, Mellott told the Review-Journal on Friday. The company slashed about half of its 580-employee workforce at the Henderson office in 2009.

"It's sad. It's difficult," she said. "We've actually brought more work back within the United States or we're in the process of doing that."

A former 17-year employee of Ford Motor Credit said she turned down an offer to transfer to the collections department when she lost her job in 2009 because she knew it would also be shutting down in a couple of years.

"I was with Ford Credit long enough to know how they do things," she said in an e-mail to the Review-Journal. "I saw a lot of my friends lose their jobs. Over the 17 years, I was transferred to four different states. Now I am no longer near my family and can't afford to move back home."

Ford wants people to buy American cars, yet the company outsourced its customer service jobs overseas, the former employee said. Ford opened service centers in India, Panama, El Salvador, Costa Rica and Jamaica.

"Something is wrong with that picture," she said. "I have a friend who still works for Ford in Colorado Springs and she informed me about six months ago that they were building collection centers overseas also. Eventually all the work will be done overseas."

Las Vegas was seen as an ideal location for call centers because of its 24-hour workforce trained in customer service skills through the hospitality industry, as well as a favorable tax structure, Nevada Development Authority president Somer Hollingsworth said.

Among the companies that came here during the 1990s were MicroAge, Williams-Sonoma, AAA Nevada, USA Group and Ford Motor Credit. Behemoths like CitiGroup have gone through massive layoffs. MicroAge filed for bankruptcy in 2000, laid off 1,800 workers and closed offices in Nevada.

A lot of call-center jobs were outsourced to the Far East and to South and Central America as cost-cutting measures, said Jeremy Aguero, principal of Applied Analysis business advisory firm. He's hearing more talk about those jobs coming back because customers are complaining about poor service and communication.

Office employment in Las Vegas has decreased by 1,800 jobs since December 2009 and by 23,800 jobs since December 2007, Applied Analysis reported.

Western Canada-based Telus communications firm opened a new facility in Las Vegas that will eventually employ up to 1,000 agents and supervisors. Zephyr Partners, a hospitality industry leader in customer contact centers, is expanding into Las Vegas, Aguero said.

"There are some indications that we're more competitive today," he said. "Improved technology, the cost of technology, voice-over programs. Then there's a trend to have customers serviced in the United States rather than foreign nations."

Contact reporter Hubble Smith at hsmith@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0491.