A representative from Xerox, Kevin Lightfoot, said the company will be looking to hire 545 people to work full-time at the Bakersfield calling center.
This comes after nearly 500 workers were laid-off from the calling center in February of this year. The year before, Xerox hired around 500 people to work there.
Coco Salazar, a spokeswoman for Xerox, said the layoffs happen depending on their clients needs. Sometimes the clients need more workers, sometimes they need less.
"A great part of our success and customer care, and just with any of our services really is our ability to scale our operations to meet the needs of our clients and so we must be nimble in adjusting our operations to provide quality service that our customers expect while containing cost to remain competitive," said Salazar.
According to Salazar, the new positions in the call center will be for technical support for a technology company.
Lightfoot said those who were laid-off will be encouraged to apply for the new positions and if their skill set is a fit for the new jobs, the company will hire them back.
"If they apply and they fit the requirements, we are more than happy to extend, you know rehire them and have them keep with the company. They already understand the company, they understand what we do, and so that obviously helps in the process," said Salazar.
However, those who were laid off from Xerox in February contacted 23 ABC with a document that stated, “As per Xerox police, employees affected by a reduction in force will not be eligible for rehire with any Xerox company for six (6) months following the separation date.”
23ABC reached back out to Xerox for comment, Salazar responded with this statement:
"As I mentioned, we encourage all of our employees to apply for open positions, and we make every effort to retain as many of our employees. A six-month rehiring period applies to employees who are terminated or subject to a reduction in force but rehiring is assessed on a case-by-case basis. Current and former Xerox employees can apply to open positions at any time and considered for new jobs if they meet the required qualifications. We currently anticipate hiring at least 75 of the impacted employees, and we hope to increase that number as more resources become available."
Danette Scarry, marketing director for America's Job Center of California, said employers needs are constantly changing and workers need to keep up with the necessary skill sets.
"If you're an employee with those businesses you need to keep yourself marketable and you need to make sure that you're keeping your skill set up," said Scarry.
Scarry said local employers are looking for workers with "soft skills," such as their interviewing skills, solid communication skills and problem-solving skills, and work place image.
America's Job Center of California offers workshops for job seekers to develop those soft skills if they're interested. For more information on that visit American's Job Center of California.
According to Xerox, "to apply for the full-time, permanent positions, candidates require a high school diploma and six months of customer service experience. Interested applicants may apply in the following ways:
-Onsite at Xerox, 401 34th St. walk-in hours are 9am-3pm Monday through Friday.
-Attend a hiring fair 10am-3pm on Thursday April 28th
-Online at this website, the job number is 16010155.
-Or by phone at 661-281-1746"
