DirecTV may have ripple effect on Missoula area’s wages

About 800 call center jobs paying $9.50 an hour with benefits may mean more money and extras for jobs across Missoula County.

“It’s going to force wages up, if you want to keep good people,” Suzanne Peterson of Quality Supply said Tuesday.

Rebecca Nasgovitz, manager of LC Staffing in Missoula, agreed.
“I think it’s a good thing. The general wage will increase,” Nasgovitz said.

In a deal signed about a week ago, DirecTV announced plans to break ground soon on a call center near the Missoula International Airport. Phones are expected to start ringing there as soon as this summer.

The 800 employees at the site would handle technical service questions from some of the company’s 15 million customers.

By ROBERT STRUCKMAN of the Missoulian

Full Story: http://www.missoulian.com/articles/2005/11/30/news/local/news04.txt