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Nordia staying in Orillia; 285 employees retained

'Sometimes in adversity, we find opportunities. It’s a little bit of a silver lining for sure,' says official, noting Nordia has moved to entirely virtual environment
nordia orillia exterior with car
Nordia Orillia will no longer operate out of this city-owned building, but will retain its 285 employees who will now work from their homes.

There are not many silver linings in a pandemic - but there is one in Orillia.

Nordia, which announced in February that it was closing its Orillia call centre, putting hundreds of people out of work, has dialed up a new plan.

The company - at least its payroll - is staying in Orillia afterall.

When the COVID-19 pandemic hit, Nordia, which was deemed an essential service, had to quickly adapt to the changing landscape to adhere to physical distancing and other measures aimed at curbing the spread of the deadly virus.

After considering several alternatives, the decision was made to allow staff, company-wide, to try working from home.

It’s worked so well in Orillia, the company will move to a virtual workplace locally and retain the 285 employees that had been working out of its physical building on Hunter Valley Road in west Orillia.

“Sometimes in adversity, we find opportunities,” said Philip van Leeuwen, vice-president, strategy and corporate communications for Nordia. “It’s a little bit of a silver lining for sure.”

In February, Van Leeuwen, who lauded the centre’s staff for their loyalty and hard work, called the closure a “business decision.”

He said the company has excess capacity at recently renovated facilities in Toronto and Waterloo and elsewhere. He also noted the lease is expiring on the Orillia site, which gives the company the opportunity to pull out.

“The building in Orillia is not up to the kind of standards now …  and the cost to renovate would be exorbitant,” said van Leeuwen, noting the centre in Orillia is “the only one we have that hasn’t been extensively renovated. It’s a big building. In fact, we’ve never used the entire building,” he said.

Under the new plan, the company doesn’t need the building.

“It’s great for the community because the money stays in Orillia,” van Leeuwen said of the decision. “It’s great for Nordia because we are able to retain that talent and continue to serve our customers.”

He said all Orillia employees were offered the opportunity to work at home. The only requirements, he said, were that employees had to have reliable internet and a dedicated, distraction-free workspace.

“Working from home is not for everyone, but more than 90 percent of our employees” chose to give it a try. 

He said a virtual workplace could pose challenges for recruitment and training of new employees, but he noted other companies provide virtual training.

“At this time, that’s kind of premature but we have talked about those things internally,” said vanLeeuwen. “Right now, our priority is to make sure the people we have can continue their employment.”

He said he is proud of the employees’ willingness to adapt and said Nordia has been leading the way in transitioning to a virtual environment during this pandemic.

“The world has changed a lot in the last couple of months and I don’t know where it will end, but it has allowed us to look at another approach and that is really good news for our employees in Orillia.”

The future for the building remains uncertain. It is owned by the city and was purpose-built to attract a large call centre in 2002.

Nordia’s lease on the building runs until July 31.