ITIF Statement on AT&T Bringing Call Center Jobs Back to United States

WASHINGTON- Today's announcement by AT&T that they will bring back 5,000 call center jobs to the United States is exactly the kind of actions that are needed to get the U.S. economy back on track and get back to more robust job creation. Not only will this create 5,000 new jobs for out of work Americans, but through the multiplier effect (the spending by AT&T on equipment, etc., and the personal spending by the call center workers) will create even more jobs, probably on the order of an additional 10,000 to 15,000 jobs. "This is good news for the labor market," said Robert D. Atkinson, president and founder of ITIF. "An important factor contributing to the anemic U.S. jobs recovery has been the competitiveness challenges faced by the U.S. economy. It’s hard to create the number and kinds of jobs we need when so many other nations are putting in place policies to make their nations the most attractive to global investment."