The Global Association for Contact Center Best Practices & Networking

MAYFIELD, Ohio, May 24, 2011 -- Progressive Corp. plans to hire 125 people by the end of June for its Mayfield call center, the second round of hirings for the company in less than a year.

Another 260 people were employed at the company's call centers in Mentor and Mayfield in the past several months.

"We're hiring because we're continuing to grow, and we need people to answer the phones and help customers with their policy questions," said spokeswoman Leah Knapp.

Progressive reported in April that its personal-line policies, which include automobile and home coverage, are up 6 percent since the same time last year, to 12 million policies. Policies for boats, motorcycles and RVs are up 5 percent from the previous year.

Pay for the customer service jobs ranges from $12 to $15 an hour, plus benefits. All the jobs require either two years' post-secondary education or two years' experience in customer service. The company also expects candidates to have proven job stability of at least one year with a past employer.

The company also is hiring 270 people at its call centers in Colorado Springs, Colo.; Tampa, Fla.; and Austin, Texas. Aside from customer service positions, the company recently reported plans to hire 60 percent more college graduates than the previous year, for analyst, accounting and information technology and claims positions.

Four years ago, Progressive laid off 341 employees, mostly in Northeast Ohio, in information technology and management operations.

"We're growing so fast that we have a greater demand for people than we had originally projected," Knapp said. "That's a good problem to have."

Posted by Veronica Silva Cusi, news correspondent
Source: http://www.cleveland.com

About Progressive Insurance:
The Progressive Corporation, known as the Progressive Casualty Insurance Company through its subsidiaries, provides personal automobile insurance, and other specialty property-casualty insurance and related services in the United States.