Vodafone (Vodafone), a telecoms company, is laying off as many as 100 jobs at Hobart's call center, a move the governor described as "devastating."
The company is talking to workers and says it expects fewer than 100 people to be affected.
Governor Hodgman (Will Hodgman) said at a news conference Tuesday morning that it was "a terrible blow to those affected."
"I can imagine they will be hit hard and their families will be very worried, so we will do everything we can to ensure support for these people," he said.
He said the government did not realize that this would happen and that if Vodafone breached the government's funding agreement, the government would ask it to return the money.
Vodafone has received state and federal funding since its inception in Tata.
It received payroll tax breaks and 3.2 million yuan in subsidies, promising to double the workforce.
In 2016, Hobart's call center employed 850 people.
Vodafone said in a statement Tuesday morning that calls and complaints were "significantly reduced" as customers increasingly liked to use online self-service.
Chief Strategy Officer Dan Lloyd said they called for staff to leave voluntarily in the restructuring process.
Vodafone has invested 200 million yuan in the center since 2013 and no longer accepts any federal or state funding for the Hobart call center, he said.