New jobs for Bendigo as demand grows for customer service

Ten new jobs have been created at a Bendigo contact centre which services three Victorian power networks, as demand grows for both residential electricity and customer service during the coronavirus pandemic.

The new roles have been added to the centre in Epsom, which services customer enquiries for CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy.

The new starters, including some who had found themselves without work as a result of COVID-19, join 73 others already employed at the centre.

The growing Bendigo hub has been busy taking questions from customers during COVID-19 lockdown about energy consumption, financial relief offered by the networks, connections and planned critical works.

Bendigo contact centre manager Rebecca Casey said more than 600,000 calls are taken in Bendigo for the three networks each year.

“The team at our Bendigo contact centre supports more than 1.7 million customers and we are pleased to continue growing and providing local employment opportunities in the region,” Ms Casey said.

“Our team is highly-skilled and knowledgeable about our networks, allowing us to give our customers the best service.

The timing has been fortunate for some new staff that had been affected by COVID-19’s impact on the economy.

New starter Caitlin Ralph had been working as an animal keeper at the Halls Gap Zoo, commuting each day from Bendigo where she and her partner had recently bought a new home.

“As a result of the pandemic I lost my job at the zoo but I was lucky enough to get a job here in Bendigo and now I’m a lot closer to home,” Ms Ralph said.
Curtis Tuohey was running his own independent travel business when the pandemic struck.

“The travel industry has been hit hard and I’m fortunate to have secured this role here in Bendigo, where I get to help people every day,” Mr Tuohey said.

As essential service providers, CitiPower, Powercor and United Energy crews have sustained high reliability of power supplies while minimising impacts on customers.

• This has been supported by ongoing critical works to maintain the networks including: addressing faults and urgent maintenance which can otherwise threaten the safety of customers
• providing electrical services supporting infrastructure and construction projects which are sustaining vital jobs and economic benefits at this time
• actions to sustain power quality and reliability for commercial and industrial customers
• work under Powercor’s bushfire management plan including asset inspections and replacements and the rollout of Rapid Earth Fault Current Limiters (REFCLs) in high bushfire risk areas.