ACT to outsource 155 jobs

ACT, the Iowa City-based testing company, announced Tuesday it would outsource 115 full-time and 40 temporary customer-service positions to a Colorado company.

The transition of those responsibilities to StarTek, based in Greenwood Village, Colo., will begin Aug. 1 and should be completed in November, the company said in a statement Tuesday.

The not-for-profit company had some 900 employees in the Iowa City a year ago, with about 1,200 in total.

'With StarTek's best-in-class technology, its large pool of agents who can provide 24-hour service and respond to peak demands, and its ability to meet the diverse language needs of ACT's customers domestically and abroad, it will be able to provide a level of service that is no longer possible for a non-specialized company,” ACT said in the statement.

It added that it is 'committed to helping affected individuals transition successfully by providing various offerings of support, including job-seeking support, in the coming months.”

Employees who do not find other positions with ACT will receive severance packages, said the company, which was founded in 1959.