AT&T staffs up new Reno call center

AT&T isn't having any trouble finding good workers to staff a new call center in Reno as it prepares to launch operations at the facility this month.

When the center reaches full staffing in early summer, it's expected to employ about 300 people.

"We have a tremendous interest in these jobs," said Hal Lenox, president of AT&T Nevada. When it announced last summer that it planned to bring the jobs to Nevada, AT&T said base pay for the positions would be $30,000.

To create space for the new employees, AT&T undertook what Lenox called "a significant renovation" of the second floor of its office building at 645 E. Plumb Lane.

The call center employees will support AT&T's broadband customers.

"These folks are the front door to our business," Lenox said.

The creation of jobs in Reno comes as AT&T moves jobs back to the United States from contracted foreign

call centers. The company also has launched a call center employing about 350 people at Las Vegas.

Nationwide, AT&T expects to have moved about 5,000 jobs back to the United States by mid-summer.