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Investigative Post: Zemsky pressed on Buffalo Billion projects

The state spent $55 million from Governor Andrew Cuomo's Buffalo Billion program to bring IBM to town to create 500 good-paying high tech jobs. But as our partners at Investigative Post reported last week, many of the employees so far are working lower-paying call-center jobs.

Howard Zemsky, the state’s economic development czar, told state Assembly members Monday that state officials are pushing IBM to create more high-tech jobs in Buffalo.

“The kinds of jobs that we’re going to see at the IBM center are not going to continue to be call center jobs,” Zemsky said.

The state pledged $55 million to renovate and equipment the six floors of Key Center’s south tower to lure IBM here on the promise of creating good-paying, high-tech jobs. But, as Investigative Post reported last week, many of the employees at the company’s office downtown work call center jobs for modest pay and benefits. Most of them aren’t employed by IBM, but by staffing agencies and subcontractors.

“Is this what qualifies as high-tech jobs?” Assemblyman Raymond Walter, R-Amherst, asked Zemsky.

While acknowledging that much of the hiring to date has been for call center jobs, Zemsky said his agency has had “productive conversations” with IBM about “upping the types of technology and innovation jobs at the center”– “the kinds of jobs,” he said, “we’d all imagined.”

Zemsky conceded, though, that IBM’s agreement with the state specifies only the overall number of jobs the company must create – 500 by 2021 – not the kinds of jobs or how much they pay.

To read the complete story, head over to Investigative Post's website.

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