As Pandemic Recedes, Atento Reopens Puerto Rican Site

Spanish BPO firm Atento unveiled its newly renovated contact center in the Puerto Rican city of Caguas with a promise of adding 100 more people to its workforce in the country.

Renovated at a cost of US$9 million, the delivery center will operate more as a hybrid office, supporting and monitoring hundreds of home-based agents working in different parts of the country.

Although established in 2005, the contact center was closed in mid-2020 following the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic. Back in 2017, it was forced to close its doors too, due to a hurricane.

“What we are celebrating is the reopening, a return to normality. The pandemic has been very hard. I think we had not [seen each other in person] during the pandemic. So today we want to celebrate returning to normality”, stated Carlos López-Abadía, Atento’s CEO.

From Caguas, Atento will offer customer service, sales, technical support, credit management and back office services through telephone, chat, social media and digital apps channels.

The site, located at El Troche Industrial Estate, will increase its workforce by 20% for a total of 400 employees to service global clients such as T-Mobile and MMM, the BPO stated in a press release.

López-Abadía said Atento may launch another delivery center in the island if it secures service contracts from US federal agencies.

“Our US business achieved 25% growth in the past year. If we continue to grow at this rate, we will grow double in size over the next three years,” he added.