eBay to close Vancouver facility

Online auction giant eBay announced plans to close a customer service facility in Vancouver which employs some 700 people.

EBay said the closure of the Canadian facility, expected to be completed by September 30 of this year, was part of a plan to "consolidate its North America customer service facilities," according to a statement.

"It is eBay's intent to increase the number of employees at its Salt Lake City (Utah) facility, which currently employs more than 900 customer service agents, and at certain other facilities globally," eBay said.

"While it is a difficult decision to close our Vancouver facility, we believe that consolidating our North America customer service operations will help accelerate our efforts to continually exceed buyer and seller expectations," said Chad O'Meara, an eBay vice president.

The San Jose, California-based eBay recently announced that it will spin off Internet communications firm Skype next year as part of a bid to refocus on its core online auction and payments businesses.

(c) 2009 AFP