Telenor shuts down department in Harstad – 81 people lose jobs

Telenor headquarters, Bulgarian MPTelenor headquarters.Photo: Norway Today Media

81 employees lose their jobs after the board of Telenor Norway has decided to shut down the customer service department in Harstad.

 

The department will close from 1 January next year and, according to Telenor, will affect a total of 81 employees. This also means that Telenor’s last customer service center in northern Norway disappears.

“Our priority is to make sure our employees in Harstad are taken care of the best we can and that they receive individual follow-up for their future,” says Berit Svendsen, Managing Director of Telenor Norway, in a press release.

Self-service to take over
According to Telenor, the background is that customers increasingly choose digital solutions and self-service rather than call a customer service representative.

The decision to close the department should have been decided during a board meeting in October, but the restructuring committee of the county municipality imposed Telenor, to postpone the decision a month so that they could look further into alternative solutions for further operations and what Telenor could add to the municipality.

As a result, Telenor will, on a proposal from the municipality, participate in the establishment of an entrepreneurial fund and center in Harstad.

Cornerstone
YS-linked Negotia reacts very strongly to the closure and believes that the options for closure have not been thoroughly investigated.

Among other things, they believe that Telenor could have used the customer service department to provide service to Canal Digital customers, an offer that has now been set up by an external supplier.
– Negotia does not believe many people understand the seriousness that Telenor Norge AS leaves northern Norway.

When a cornerstone company disappears in District Norway, it is severely harder than in central areas. In this case, we consider the board is seriously neglecting the social responsibility the company has, with continued presence in North Norway, says Negotia’s Director, Arnfinn Korsmo.

 

©  NTB Scanpix / Norway Today