Charter Communications, owner of the internet service provider Spectrum, laid off 176 workers at its Portland call center Wednesday, according to the company and filings with the state.

That’s roughly one quarter of its Maine-based workforce, according to figures the company shared in August. At that time, Spectrum reported having about 700 workers in Maine.

“We are transitioning the work done at our Portland, ME call center to other U.S.-based centers, effective immediately,” spokesperson Lara Pritchard said in an email Thursday. “This change allows us to deliver information, training, and technology to our representatives more efficiently.”

She said the layoffs do not impact field workers or operations.

Pritchard said employees were notified of the layoffs Wednesday morning. By Thursday morning, the call center, located at 901 Washington Ave., was listed as “permanently closed” on Google Maps.

Ian Warner, a Portland resident who worked at the call center for about a year, said the news seemed to come as a total surprise to staffers and many supervisors.

In a Thursday morning phone call, Warner described an emotional, “hostile”-feeling scene at the office Wednesday as a team of executives told workers that the center would be closed by day’s end.

“I was probably one of the few people that weren’t crying,” Warner said. “I’ve never seen any of the supervisors have scared faces on them.”

Warner said he and many of his colleagues already worked second jobs to make ends meet.

“(I’m) still kind of numb. I have no idea what to do right now,” he said. “I just feel bad for the people that were about to retire.”

Pritchard said impacted employees may relocate to other “select customer service locations” — including in Rochester and Schenectady, New York — and can also apply for “any open role for which they are qualified.”

Employees will continue to receive regular pay for 90 days, after which severance will begin for those who do not relocate, Pritchard said. Those who do move will get relocation benefits at that time.

Charter filed a WARN notice with the state Wednesday.

The Portland call center is the latest in a more than yearlong string of layoffs by the telecommunications giant, which is based in Stamford, Connecticut.

Earlier this year, Charter closed another call center in Worcester, Massachusetts, which employed 174 people, the Worcester Telegram & Gazette reported in March. In October, it laid off roughly 1,200 workers at its headquarters and at centers in Charlotte, North Carolina; Denver; and St. Louis, the Los Angeles Times reported.