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Florida Health Plan to 'Onshore' 120 Employees, Bring Them Back From Philippines

By Deborah Hirsch, TMCnet Contributor

We’re used to talking to very nice people in India and other countries when we need help with our computers or banking or appliances. But, what would you say if a company was to bring jobs previously filled in the Philippines back to the U.S.?   

That’s exactly what Tampa-based WellCare Health Plans is doing. It’s called “onshoring,” and the healthcare organization plans to hire here for 120 jobs that were previously based in the Philippines. 

Employees will report to a new call center in North Lauderdale, according to a story by Jeff Harrington.  Including the North Lauderdale launch, the company has created about 740 new positions throughout Florida in the past year and a half, he adds.

WellCare, which provides managed-care services primarily for Medicaid and Medicare recipients, is teaming up with outsourced customer management firm, Teleperformance (News - Alert), to run the new center, Harrington reports. The jobs will be filled by English- and bilingual Spanish-speaking representatives handling calls from WellCare members and providers.

Harrington notes that company leaders said serving health and drug plan members through using resources and professionals who reside within their state is "an important element" of their system.

"This initiative also enables WellCare to deliver cost-effective health care solutions on behalf of our government customers, and create jobs in our home state of Florida," Walt Cooper, WellCare's chief administrative officer, said in a statement, Harrington relays.

The center has already begun taking calls and is expected to become fully operational in early August. In Tampa, WellCare has about 2,450 employees, including a recently opened operation in the Carrollwood area that is expected to grow to about 300 information technology workers.

WellCare is not alone in its embracing of onshoring. According to SmartBrief, companies such as Caterpillar are all shifting production back to the U.S., as are Ford Motor, General Electric, Coleman, Whirlpool, Cochrane Furniture, Carlisle Tire & Wheel Co. and Otis Elevator.

A recent analysis by the Progressive Policy Institute showed that if we could close the trade deficit, roughly 3.5-4 million direct and indirect manufacturing jobs could be brought back to the US, raising total manufacturing employment to about  15.5-16 million, or 2001 levels, according to a story by Michael Mandel.

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