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TTEC, a global customer experience outsourcing and technology services provider, has paused its 401(k) matches for US employees through the end of 2026, according to an internal memo reviewed by Business Insider.
In an April 30 memo, Laura Butler, TTEC’s chief people officer, said the company made “the difficult decision to suspend the discretionary company match to the TTEC 401(k) program, effective Q2 2026.”
Butler said the nine-month suspension is intended to “protect the long-term strength” of the business and provide greater financial flexibility to continue investing in areas the company says will shape its future.
Those investments include AI certifications, AI-enabled tools and training, performance coaching, automation, and workforce education programs, a TTEC spokesperson told Business Insider.
The company said it will reassess the pause early next year and, “if our business performance supports it, we intend to resume contributions,” Butler added.
TTEC previously matched up to 3% of an employee’s salary toward their 401(k) if the employee contributed at least 6%, according to a TTEC employee who spoke with Business Insider.
The spokesperson confirmed that the company has temporarily suspended the discretionary 401(k) match, describing the move as part of “a broader set of actions to create the financial flexibility needed to accelerate our business transformation.”
The spokesperson said TTEC did not take decisions affecting employee benefits lightly and added: “This was done to invest aggressively in the capabilities that will define our competitiveness and create long-term opportunities for our employees and clients.” A tax-deferred retirement plan remains in place.
TTEC’s decision reflects a wider pattern of benefits rollbacks at major employers, Business Insider reported. In April, Deloitte was reported to be planning reductions or cuts to parental leave, annual PTO, a pension plan, and IVF funding for a select group of employees. Zoom also confirmed it reduced the number of weeks of parental leave it offers this year.
Craig Copeland, director of wealth benefits research at the Employee Benefit Research Institute, said benefit cuts are often associated with a tougher economic environment and can be used to trim costs before layoffs. “If the economy does start to worsen, I would expect to see more cuts. Right now, it appears to be only a beginning, and we will need to watch what happens,” he said.
Copeland also noted that companies in the same industry may adopt similar benefit policies because they compete for the same workers: “If workers don’t have options elsewhere, competing employers don’t need to offer as generous benefits.”
TTEC, headquartered in Austin, has annual global revenues of over $2 billion and around 16,000 US employees. The company provides digital and AI-enabled customer-experience services through two business lines: TTEC Digital and TTEC Engage, offering managed services, consulting, data analytics, and end-to-end technology solutions.
TTEC’s global annual revenue dropped 3.2% to $2.1 billion in its latest financial year. Its share price, which rose during the pandemic, has fallen from more than $110 in late 2021 to less than $3 as of May 6.
In its 2025 annual report, TTEC CEO and chairman Kenneth Tuchman said the customer experience sector was experiencing a “seesaw of market sentiment,” and that TTEC is recalibrating to be “more agile and more profitable” by 2027.
In an April 28 meeting with TTEC Digital staff, Chris Brown, CEO of TTEC Digital, said the suspension of retirement contributions is consistent with actions taken by other professional services firms. “This is something that others are doing in this market,” Brown said. “You will see it among some of the professional services firms and otherwise. I don’t want you to think that we’re necessarily unusual in this regard.”
Brown linked the retirement contribution suspension to TTEC’s broader strategy, saying it would help lay the foundation for future growth and investment in “tools, training, capabilities, and frankly, people.”
One TTEC employee told Business Insider that connecting their 401(k) to investment in training felt “like a head-scratcher.” The employee said the news was met with “confusion, then anger,” adding that they were concerned about how the loss of retirement savings could compound over time.
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