Datacom to create 650 new jobs in Noarlunga customer support centre, in rapid expansion on its existing 1200-stong Modbury site

Coronavirus has hammered parts of the SA economy, but one hi-tech data company is looking to expand and says it will offer new career opportunities to people who are out of work.

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Information technology and support firm Datacom will create 650 new jobs in Adelaide’s south, with a new customer centre that marks a rapid expansion on operations at Modbury.

The move comes amid a historic shift toward more online activity during the coronavirus lockdowns, which have also hammered parts of the SA economy and claimed 40,800 jobs.

Datacom has a workforce of more than 6500 people across Australia, New Zealand, Asia, Europe and the Americas.

It first made the move into Modbury three years ago.

There are now 1200 people at the Modbury site, a large percentage of whom were previously

unemployed. When first announced that site was intended to support about 600 jobs.

Datacom has a mix of government and private sector clients, and runs a nationalised service desk at Modbury.

The company specialises in IT systems, as well as customer support.

The new Noarlunga site will commence with 650 people, focused on customer support.

Premier Steven Marshall is seeking to increasingly shift the state’s economy into high-technology areas, and capitalise on massive government defence and space programs.

He said the Datacom announcement was a “major jobs win” and “investments like these will be critical to kick start our economy following the impact of COVID-19”.

Datacom Managing Director Stacey Tomasoni said SA had been a critical part of the company’s growth strategy in recent years, and provided “extraordinary talent”.

“We’re basically modelling the success that we’ve had in Modbury in this next site,” she said.

“That goes down to how we bring people into the business, how we train and upskill them and how we continually invest in their development to move into bigger and better roles.

“It’s a great career path for people to come into the contact centre and get really good at that customer service side of things and progress.”

Ms Tomasoni said there was shift in the industry to onshore phone support services, and being able to make human contact was even more valuable when people were socially distant.

“That human interaction that you can have at the other end of the line is just all the more important, and that ability to have compassion and empathy,” she said.

“We see a big shift now around organisations thinking about the questionable value of running services offshore.”

That concern has included the forced shutdown of international sites due to health concerns.

Datacom has already commenced a hiring drive and intends to open the new site this year.

Mr Marshall has said there is a major opportunity for the state to pitch itself as a better place to do business after having crushed the COVID curve, showing itself as a safe destination.