When they were running for re-election as Fayette County commissioners a scant four weeks ago, Vince Vicites and Vince Zapotosky sent out a campaign mailer that sketched a pretty positive picture of the county's economy.
In urging voters to re-elect them, they told us: "Over the last two decades, Fayette County has experienced over $1 billion worth of infrastructure investment in the manufacturing sector (annual average of over $60 million). This investment has created and retained almost 8,000 jobs and generated new payroll dollars of almost $150 million annually."
Among those new jobs they touted were 1,650 in the category of "Customer Support Centers," and one of the companies they specifically mentioned was Teleperformance, based in Redstone Township.
That number will have to be adjusted downward, as today's Herald-Standard reports that Teleperformance is laying off 306 local employees. http://www.heraldstandard.com/news/local_news/teleperformance-laying-off-local-employees/article_a458d3ad-1f65-5eb2-851d-7499772cedaf.html
We commend reporter Chris Haines for trying to gain access to employees on break outside the building (she was denied) and for reporting that one employee interviewed off site said they were told that they weren't allowed to speak to the media. (If that's true, someone should inform Teleperformance that this in the United States of America, not the United Arab Emirates.
Other than pointing out the transient nature of these "Customer Support Center" jobs -- here today, gone tomorrow! -- the purpose of this post is to point out a basic inconsistency regarding economic news.
If Teleperformance had announced they were ADDING 306 jobs instead of subtracting them, you can bet your firstborn child that it would have looked like the Mount Summit Challenge as Vicites, Zapotosky and Fay-Penn Economic Development Council officials raced to the Herald-Standard to deliver and comment on the news.
There probably would have been a well-staged announcement, particularly in an election year, with all of them patting each other on the back and taking credit for a job well done.
Why, then, aren't these same glory-seekers regularly contacted for comment when there is bad news to deliver? It would be interesting to hear what they have to say, don't you think?
We're not blaming any of them for the job cuts. But we will say that these aren't the type of jobs anyone should brag about. If you're going to take credit for Teleperformance coming to town, you should also face the music when they send 306 people packing.
But in all fairness, you can't comment unless you are asked to.
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