The students were trained by IBM to handle all enquiries, provide support to customers and deliver technical programming expertise for the delivery centre clients.

The students are studying a variety of courses including management, nursing, animal science, computing, information technology and trades, and they make up 60 per cent of the workforce in the delivery centre, which opened in February 2013. The move is applauded by ATEED, which has developed a partnership with Unitec in helping to grow a talented workforce. Unitec students are recruited for part-time work that fits in with their studies, giving them the opportunity to gain valuable workplace experience that could give them a head-start in the competitive job market when they graduate.

Technology and innovation company Concentrix, owned by American multi-national Synnex Corporation, became a strategic partner with IBM, and together they have developed a delivery centre at Unitec that builds skills and capability in Auckland.

The Unitec students are working alongside full-timers and gaining valuable experience in customer service as they take calls and handle inquiries for three major corporates. The call centre, based at the Unitec Institute of Technology in Auckland, is busy but its staff are operating with calmness and professionalism. A dashboard on the wall of the IBM Delivery Centre lights up, registering the number of incoming calls and the time taken to answer them.

Ibm callcenter