March 9, 2012 -- WorkSpace Communications, a Kansas City, Kan.-based business processes outsourcing services provider, earlier this week launched a new initiative to put America’s returning veterans to work in the contact center industry.

The initiative, called the WorkSpace Warriors Initiative, will set up veterans of the U.S. armed forces to work virtually from their own homes for Workspace’s client companies with sales, service, support or other call center services.

The goal is to put at least 200 veterans back to work by the end of the year, according to Mike Tripp, president of Workspace Communications.

"We certainly want to take care of those coming home after battling in Iraq or Afghanistan, but any veteran will qualify," Tripp says.

He says the spouses of activity duty service members also qualify for the program.

"It applies to anyone in the military who has been effected by the economy and is struggling to find work," Tripp says.

All of these positions will be work-at-home positions pulled from a pool of veterans who could be scattered across the country. WorkSpace will provide all the necessary training and other services needed to prepare the veterans to work in the call center environment and for the particular client companies. "As long as they've got the basic skill set requirements, we can bring them up to speed with the other requirements for the job," Tripp says.

By hiring out-of-work veterans, Workspace will qualify for federal, state, and local tax credits and other government incentives, but Tripp is willing to share. "Our expectation is that we will split the tax credits with our clients who work with us to employ these veterans," Tripp says.

Tripp doesn't expect all of the military personnel hired through this program to stay in the call center industry as a lifelong career. "It's our hope that we will provide a career path for our vets, but if this is just a bridge until they find another career path that's more suited toward their goals, I'm fine with that too," he says.

"I'm just excited about the opportunity," Tripp adds. "These vets have spent so much time working to protect us, it's time to provide a future for them. This is based on our desire to give back to the folks who have sacrificed so much for us."

Workspace Communications provides contact center services for companies across verticals. Through its contact center division, WorkSpace Contact Center Solutions, the company delivers a number of solutions, ranging from in-center and at-home live agent support, centralized call center and vendor management, and managed support services.

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