WestJet Bringing Over 400 Home-Based Jobs to Moncton
MONCTON – WestJet will be creating over 400 bilingual home-based jobs over the next four years in the Greater Moncton Area.
The announcement was made Monday by Premier Brian Gallant.
“We are pleased that a successful and well respected business like WestJet has chosen to invest in New Brunswickers,” said Gallant, in a release. “Our bilingual and highly-skilled workforce has made us a leader in the business services centre industry. It is great to see that 400 more New Brunswickers will be able to work here because of this deal.”
The home-based jobs will require strong communication skills as well as proficiency in computer programs and data entry.
WestJet is now accepting applications for the positions of call centre agents, team leaders and instructors. Hiring for these positions, two thirds of which will be full-time, will begin in May, followed by training in July and job commencement in September. A training facility will be set up in Moncton where agents will be trained before working from home.
“We have always taken our responsibility to provide our signature friendly, caring and stress-free service in both of Canada’s official languages seriously,” said Gregg Saretsky, WestJet president and CEO. “A second call centre based in Canada’s only officially bilingual province, in a city known as a centre of excellence for contact centres, will allow us to provide additional hours of service for our French-speaking guests.”
Opportunities NB will contribute a $1 million forgivable loan and up to $2.5 million in payroll rebates for a $62 million return on investment. Once the jobs are created, the annual provincial GDP is expected to increase by $24 million. The total WestJet payroll in New Brunswick over the first six years is expected to be $34 million.