Telerx Marketing is laying off 120 of the company's 250 employees at its customer service center in Kings Mountain.

The Horsham, Pa.-based company announced the layoffs in a letter filed last week with the N.C. Department of Commerce. The layoffs are expected to begin Dec 28.

Telerx said the layoffs are the result of one of the company's clients not renewing a contract. The 120 employees being let go all worked on that account, the company said in its letter.

Telerx Marketing announced in 2007 plans to invest $8.8 million and create 310 jobs over three years in Kings Mountain, about 30 miles west of Charlotte. The company received a $450,000 state incentives grant for the project.

Telerx is a subsidiary of Merck & Co.

A Raleigh job placement agency is holding job fairs to hire 400 people who will conduct phone surveys.

The interviewer jobs start May 1 in North Raleigh and will run through mid-September, but some of the phone workers may end up getting hired permanently.

Greene Resources is holding the all-day job fairs April 24 and May 1 at the Hilton North Raleigh at 3415 Wake Forest Road.

The jobs pay $10 an hour and don't require selling anything. Instead, the phone bank workers will call people to conduct surveys.

The phone surveys will be conducted for RTI International, a large nonprofit research organization in Research Triangle Park conducts surveys and research for government agencies and other clients.
 

A Greensboro call service center is permanently closing and laying off 685 people.

NCO Customer Management has notified the N.C. Commerce Department that that layoffs will begin after May 7 and take place in stages until the facility shuts down on Aug. 31.

The company said it's closing because of "client mandated business decisions and requirements," but did not identify which clients are no longer using NCO's call center. A call to the company was not immediately returned.

A Southern Pines call-center operator is hiring 45 sales agent to staff a new center opening next month in Morrisville.

Trident Marketing, which employs 350 in Southern Pines, is opening a 6,600-square foot facility in Morrisville in the first week of September. The company hopes to expand the call center next year to add marketing and technology functions.

Trident, founded in 1986, specializes in helping businesses acquire customers and subscribres. Its clients include DirectTV, ADT and HughesNet, among others.

The company attributes its growth to analytical technology that allows its customers to use targeted marketing in print media, online and other formats.

Trident is holding a career fair on Satuday, Aug. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. in Suite 900 at 2700 Gateway Centre Blvd., in Morrisville.

Trident is also expanding at its Southern Pines headquarters with planned hires in marketing positions.

Applicants can also apply online.

A call center in Raleigh is hiring 280 call representatives and supervisors as it expands local staff by about 25 percent.

Affiliated Computer Services is accepting applications by phone, online as well as walk-ins at its facility in Raleigh. The company currently employs 1,100 in Raleigh and 3,250 throughout the state.

ACS contracts with businesses to provide customer service functions and other services. ACS service call reps take incoming calls and answer questions and provide information to customers of banks, insurance companies and other businesses.

ACS does not reveal the names of the businesses and government agencies for which it provides contract work. ACS is hiring in Raleigh to meet demand from a business it serves that is expanding, said company spokesman Chris Gilligan.

ACS is also hiring in Kentucky and Oregon.

Goldsboro has lost 54 jobs with the closure of a call center.

CDG Management, based in New Jersey, notified the N.C. Department of Commerce to say it would close the center Nov. 27.

The company said in its letter that its closing all fundraising call centers. All the laid off workers will be eligible for state unemployment benefits.

A national call center operator is planning to hire 150 people in Raleigh in the coming month to meet a tight deadline for a corporate client.

Affiliated Computer Services, based in Dallas, plans to bring its staff total in the state to 2,750, with more than 1,100 new hires in Raleigh just since March.

The company doesn't disclose its clients, but many are in the communications and health care industries, said ACS spokesman Chris Gilligan.