Thrift board sends more call center work to contractors

[The Straight Story]

Thrift board sends more call center work to contractors

By David McGlinchey
[e-mail]

The Federal Retirement Thrift Investment Board announced a five-year, $18.1 million contract Monday that will establish a Thrift Savings Plan call center in southwestern Virginia.

SI International, a Virginia-based technology systems company, was awarded the contract to operate the call center in Clintwood, Va., according to Thrift board officials. The contract is currently being handled by the National Finance Center, a government agency run by the Agriculture Department, in New Orleans. NFC will no longer handle call center work for the Thrift plan, but the facility will still be responsible for other administrative tasks, including data entry and accounting. TSP Executive Director Gary Amelio said the NFC call center work costs the Thrift plan $12.5 million annually to operate.

"We are going to save the plan's participants $40 million over five years," Amelio said. "And I have no doubt the service levels will be superior as well."

TSP - which serves as a 401(k)-style plan for federal employees - has 3.5 million participants and more than $150 billion in assets. It previously awarded a contract for a parallel call center in Maryland. TSP officials have praised the Maryland facility, but some plan participants have expressed concerns about their personal and financial information being handled by a private contractor.

http://www.govexec.com/dailyfed/0605/062005d1.htm

[rox63]

1. It could have been worse

They could have sent the jobs to India, like a lot of other call-centers have done.

[SharonAnn]

2. The only ways you can pay less are these:

1. Provide less service
2. Pay less to employees (and management)
3. Improve operations methodology

Privatization on things like this typically lead to worse service and higher cost.

However, management makes lots and lots of money.

[Nikki Stone 1]

3. Ah, more "smaller government" neoconservatism.

You make government smaller by giving it away, piece by piece, to private industry.