Following Appliances laying off 430 manufacturing staff at Mosgiel, and the factory's imminent closure, it had hired 18 call centre staff and four trainers, and advertised for a further eight staff, Appliances chief executive for New Zealand, Malcolm Harris, said yesterday.
"Growth is going to plan and we're happy with the calibre of staff," Mr Harris said.
Appliances has sold its factory to dairy company Fonterra for about $20 million, for conversion to warehousing, but has leased it back for several more months.
In late June, about 100 design research and development staff, plus the call centre staff, will relocate into leased premises in the Dunedin City Council-owned Wall Street mall in George St.
Mr Harris said the extensive fit-out of the Wall Street premises was costing "less than $1 million".
All work was going to plan and late June remained the target to move the design, research and development staff into the city.
He said of the 22 staff hired so far for the call centre, there were fewer than expected from former manufacturing staff, but that may have been because staff chose to take redundancy packages.
The centre fielded calls 24/7 from around the world on Appliances' products.
Appliances was negotiating to replicate an Auckland-based telephone "service franchise" in Dunedin, dealing with product advice, buying goods and servicing, but Mr Harris said it was too early to estimate how many jobs would be created.
