The California State Automobile Association said Friday that it is moving up the scheduled closing of its call center in Elk Grove to next year, instead of the previously announced 2010.
AAA said 70 employees at its Elk Grove site on West Taron Drive were notified last month that they would be laid off effective Dec. 31.
That will leave the local call center, which handles calls from around the nation, with 242 employees, down from a high of about 500.
In July, AAA said it would close the Elk Grove center at the end of July 2010, but AAA spokeswoman Cynthia Harris said the closing date has been moved "to the end of 2009."
A year ago, AAA officials said they planned to close the facility by 2011, but AAA has speeded up the process, citing the cost of doing business in California.
AAA is closing its California call centers and moving those operations out of state. AAA call centers are operating in Colorado, Arizona and Nevada, and another is scheduled to open soon in Oklahoma. All will field calls from AAA members nationwide.
AAA closed its Livermore facility in September and is scheduled to close its Irvine center in early 2009. At their peak, AAA's three California call centers employed about 900.
Harris said AAA is offering severance packages and a program to help displaced workers find employment. That program includes job counseling, résumé-writing help and job-placement services.
"Our goal is to make this as seamless a transfer as possible for our members and our employees," Harris said.
Harris said 34 employees at the Elk Grove center were notified in September that their jobs would be gone by the end of November.
The Elk Grove site opened in 2003 and handled about 200,000 insurance, membership and road service calls per month.
AAA owns the West Taron Drive property that houses the center, but Harris said no decision has been made on its future. Likewise, she said an exact date to close the Elk Grove center has not been set.
Call The Bee's Mark Glover, (916) 321-1184.
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