Bank lays off 270 Cincinnati workers with no warning
CINCINNATI (WKRC) — Roughly 270 people are losing their jobs working remotely in Cincinnati for an international bank's call center.
One woman told WKRC there was no notice at all.
Tammy Williams' routine morning was completely changed by lunchtime on Tuesday. Her job of eight years was gone without a warning.
There was no sign of respect, integrity, or even just caring about other people shown by Barclays," said Williams.Williams said she started working for Barclays when it opened its call center in Hamilton back in 2016. It was once one of Hamilton's largest employers, but during the pandemic, operations shifted to remote work with a co-working space in Over-The-Rhine.
She said her job was to be the person people would work with to resolve credit card issues. She said that a lack of communication from the company created a lot of confusion for workers on Tuesday. While Barclays notified the state of Ohio that layoffs would begin in July, she said she was officially terminated on Wednesday.
Williams knew something was off when the phone stopped ringing. Typically, she would get hundreds of calls a day, so that was her first indication before automated emails started populating her inbox.
My schedule had been totally wiped out," said Williams. "I knew right then that we were closing. You don't see your entire schedule for a year totally say, 'deleted, deleted, deleted,' if you're not being let go."She said a Zoom meeting took place at 11:30 a.m. on Tuesday, but not everyone could get in. She said she didn't hear it in its entirety either.
"It was basically no video, no microphone, nothing," said Williams.
In a Microsoft Teams chat, one person said, "What's going on?"
"A lot of my colleagues that were off yesterday didn't know this was happening," said Williams.
Williams was then locked out of her email and other work related accounts. It took Barclays 24 hours to call her and officially tell her that she was terminated. Barclays informed the state in a written notice on Tuesday, May 21, 2024, at 12:45 p.m.
"They couldn't even tell the truth on this [notice] thing," said Williams.
Barclays then wrote that the permanent closure would take place on Sept. 13, 2024, and separations would begin on July 20, 2024.
"But you're saying you don't have a job today?" said Local 12.
"Today, I don't have a job. Yesterday at 11:30 a.m. I was basically out of a job," said Williams.
Now, the future is uncertain for Williams, who had no plans of retiring anytime soon.
I was gonna work as long as the good lord gave me the strength to work," said Williams. "I just wish they would have said something sooner to maybe give us that opportunity to find other employment. I'm at that age now where [I'm asking,] 'Am I gonna be able to find work?' I don't know."Williams said she also worried about her co-workers too.
"If they got kids, how are they gonna feed the kids?" How are you gonna keep a roof over your head? Keep the lights on? Food on the table?" said Williams.
Williams then said that Barclays informed her that she would receive a severance package, but she hadn't received that by the time she met with Local 12 on Wednesday. Barclays told Local 12 that the work performed by employees in Cincinnati will move to other operation centers.
“We regularly review our operations to ensure we have the most effective and efficient model to best serve our clients and customers. We’ve made the difficult decision to relocate the work performed by approximately 270 remote call center employees in Cincinnati to our other operations centers and will exit the site this summer. Assisting colleagues affected by this change is our top priority, and we will be providing them with a range of benefits and transition resources," said Barclays.
If a worker feels that their employer violated the WARN Notice requirement, they can visit the DOL website and review the Worker's Guide to Advance Notice of Closings and Layoffs. Page eight of the guide contains information for workers who feel their WARN rights were violated.
For the DOL WARN Act Compliance Assistance website, click here.
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