Firstsource adding 200 employees to Colorado Springs call center

July 28--Firstsource Solutions Ltd. announced plans Tuesday to add 200 workers at its northern Colorado Springs call center by the end of September after adding a second major health insurer as a client.

Cara Brubaker, the company's human resource manager in Colorado Springs, said Firstsource wants to fill the full-time positions in the next eight weeks as the new client "ramps up" operations and to handle growth from two other clients -- a health care insurer added last year and a longtime financial services industry. The 400-employee center fills the first floor of a building in the NorthCreek complex at 5725 Mark Dabling Blvd. and could grow into additional space, depending its clients' growth, she said.

Potential employees can apply in person between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Monday through Friday at the center's human resource office in Suite 200 or online at firstsourcecareers.com. The company requires applicants to demonstrate that they can type at least 45 words per minute accurately and know how to use common personal computer software. The online posting for the openings also indicates that previous call center experience "is a plus."

No pay rate is listed on the posting, but the jobs include medical, dental, vision and life insurance coverage as well as retirement savings, bonuses, paid time off and paid training. Firstsource also offers advancement opportunities -- Cody Trembly said he joined the company's Colorado Springs call center in December as a customer service representative and was promoted four months later to supervise a team of 15-20 representatives, an opportunity he said "took him by surprise."

The expansion is the second in less than a year of the call center, which was slated for closure in September 2014 after losing a key customer. The staff had dwindled from 300 when the closure was announced in March to about 50 when Firstsource said in October that the center would remain open and add another 100 workers. The key client had resumed using the center, which also landed a health care client. Another 250 employees were added in late 2014 and earlier this year as work for both clients grew.

Brubaker declined to identify the health care clients, but said both are Fortune 100 companies. Aetna, Cigna, Humana, UnitedHealth and Wellpoint are the only health care companies in the Fortune 100, and UnitedHealth operates a local call center for a contract it holds from Tricare. Firstsource provides call center services for five of the 10 largest U.S. health insurance and managed care companies, according to its website.

Firstsource acquired the center in 2008 from British banking giant Barclays, which had opened it two years earlier to issue credit cards that reward customers of airlines, cruise lines, hotels and retailers. India-based Firstsource employs more 26,000 people at 47 call centers serving more than 100 clients in India, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, the United Kingdom and the United States.

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