Spectrum announced that it plans to close its Appleton call center, March 19, 2026. PC: Fox 11 Online
APPLETON, WI (WTAQ-WLUK) — Spectrum is closing its Appleton call center, putting 313 people out of work, the company confirmed Thursday.
“Effective May 21, 2026, we are transitioning the work done at our Appleton, WI technical repair call center to our other U.S.-based call centers, where we can deliver information, training and technology to our representatives more efficiently,” said spokesman Mike Hogan.
Employees have the option to relocate and transition in their current role to one of our select technical repair locations or apply to another role with the company for which they are qualified, including our Fond du Lac call center. Any employee who does not have a new position by May 21 will be eligible for comprehensive severance benefits.
The company noted it continues to expand its fiber network in the state and has a “growing field operations team” for servicing customers.
According to the notice filed with the Department of Workforce Development, the largest group of employees impacted is 119 people listed as “Rep 3, Cust Svc Tech Support.”
The Fox Valley Workforce Development Board said it’s rare to see job loss at this scale.
“A very large dislocation of this size is relatively unusual for us. We tend to get smaller pockets. The 25s, the 50s, the 100s. But 300 is not impossible to deal with,” said CEO Anthony Snyder.
The Workforce Development Board helps job-seekers get on the right path. Snyder said it’s not often that a notice of closure from a company comes so early. Typically, a 30-day notice is required.
“I think it’s actually quite good of Charter-Spectrum to give us a long runway, and kudos to them for doing it. And what it tells me is, even if they have to close a location for a business reason, they still care about their workers,” he explained.
Snyder said call centers across the country have been on a downward trend in the past few years.
“Call centers regrettably, many of them are being replaced by AI and automated ventures. And so, we do not see call centers as a growing field. AI, computer-aided call centers are replacing the human call center.,” he said.
The board said in the Fox Valley, there are more jobs than job-seekers. The skills of the workers impacted are still needed in the community.
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