Comcast Cable will close its residential call center in Sarasota, laying off 129 workers, but will open a new regional dispatch center that will employ 93.

The company is combining the Sarasota call center into a similar operation in Fort Myers, spokesman Bill Ferry said Tuesday.

The new dispatch center will cover Florida, coastal Georgia and South Carolina when it opens in about two months.

 

This is good news for local residents, as the new jobs will be relocated to right here in Gateway. All 93 positions will work out of the current Comcast call center location at 12641 Corporate Lakes Drive. More jobs for our families, traffic for our local businesses and an increased demand on our real estate market!

 

To apply for new positions, visit www.comcast.com and search under careers.

Find out more about the move below.

“This center will bring highly technical positions involved in routing and scheduling and the sort of behind-the-scenes work that goes unobserved by customers,” Ferry said.

Comcast, the largest cable television provider in Sarasota and Charlotte counties, will also create 20 new customer service jobs in Sarasota for employees who will work from home, he said.

Employees laid off by the call center closing can apply to work in the dispatch center or for the work-at-home jobs, Ferry said. They also can seek to transfer to Fort Myers. Those who do not find other jobs within Comcast may receive severance.

The company filed a required WARN notice Monday with the state Agency for Workforce Innovation. It stated the layoffs will begin April 27 and be completed by May 31.

Combining the call centers into one location will provide better service to residential customers and facilitate training to the employees who handle calls regarding TV, phone and Internet services, Ferry said.