CALL CENTERS: Labor Unions are watching...

[diatabz]

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when you think about it, dehado man jud ang call center agent sa pinas. i work in one myself and most of the time it's for the sake of providing for the fam naman gud. it comes to a point na u just ignore the "unfairness" and the lack of "employee care". I cant blame the supervisors coz i know pressured pud sila but sometimes the workload for agents is just too much. it works for some but majority of agents are more or less forced because as they always say, "it's good and easy money" and my favorite, ''it pays the bills". i know beggars are not choosers, but sometimes ur better off begging nalang.

[LytSlpr]

when you think about it, dehado man jud ang call center agent sa pinas. i work in one myself and most of the time it's for the sake of providing for the fam naman gud. it comes to a point na u just ignore the "unfairness" and the lack of "employee care". I cant blame the supervisors coz i know pressured pud sila but sometimes the workload for agents is just too much. it works for some but majority of agents are more or less forced because as they always say, "it's good and easy money" and my favorite, ''it pays the bills". i know beggars are not choosers, but sometimes ur better off begging nalang.

to some or probably most working class people this sounds pathetic and desperate but this is very true. BPO companies "relatively" abuse their employees because they know they pay higher than most industries and people from other industries might also say that people in the BPO industry are "whiners" but if one looks at the situation objectively, callcenter or BPO work comes with high expectations, pressure, irregular working hours, safety hazards, among others. Plus employers most of the time go over the job description of the agents with the same pay and no extra premium.

[LytSlpr]

As I was watching the news here in Chicago, apparently it is not only our local unions who are on the watch and is strongly concerned about off-shoring jobs and other BPO operations outside the U.S.


"The basic argument is this, that the set of rules, the framework of rules that we've put in place here in the United States, but also through the global trading system, has been very lopsided.

It's been very good for protecting the interests and concerns of the multinational corporations, so that they can move their production, their jobs, around from country to country with very few obstacles. And it's not so good for the people left behind.

So, you know, I don't think America is going to have a great and glowing future for the average person if our comparative advantage is shopping and debt."

-THEA LEE, AFL-CIO Policy Director


READ HERE for some very interesting points.


On a different note, Chrysler cut 13,000 workers. (which will most likely be off-shored soon)

[rayboy]

what labor union can do?

[LytSlpr]

what labor union can do?

if they are united, motivated and pro-active, they can lobby for new pro-labor laws in the BPO setting which protects the workers rights and interest and/or pressure the companies concerned through information and massive awareness through media.

they could also help employees or the employees themselves put up an association for a unified and strong sector and also put up cooperative for their benefit. If the government truly recognize the economic benefits of this sector so much, then they should even initiate or initially fund it just like what they are doing with OTHER sectors.

[ed168]

what labor union can do?

basic bro, let say maybe u can ask ur shift or dako2x ang sweldo kung graveyard sched., organize namo dugaya! , step 1, sugest ko, gather all people na pareha ninyog utok

[grabehbebe]

Call center workers get high praise from Dell

DELL, one of the world’s largest computer makers, opened its second call center in the Philippines yesterday, declaring Filipino customer support agents among the best in the world.

“Our expansion is evidence of the quality and talent of professionals here in the Philippines,� said Dick Hunter, Dell vice president for customer experience and support, as he opened the company’s new call center at the Eastwood Cyberpark in Quezon City.

Dell’s first call center here, opened 14 months ago at the SM Mall of Asia complex, had the highest customer satisfaction rating among the company’s 25 sites around the world, Hunter said.

The 145,000-square-foot call center was equipped with sophisticated tools for solving customer problems, Hunter said, while the new facility in Quezon City had training labs that simulate networked homes and offices.

“What our employees do here is high-technology work,� he said.

Dell has 1,400 employees in its first contact center serving customers in the United States. It plans to hire 100 new customer-support agents each month until its total head count reaches 2,600.

Company officials declined to discuss investment details, but Trade Secretary Peter Favila said Dell had invested P466 million for the second call center.

Dell invested P366 million last year for its first customer support facility.

The call center industry is one of the fastest-growing sectors in the economy.

The Contact Center Association of the Philippines projects that local call center business will become a $7.3-billion industry by 2010. It employed almost 180,000 people last year.

Also yesterday, Dell country manager Michael Garrison announced the donation of a computer lab with 20 computers to Quezon City High School. The program would be supported by Dell employees working with teachers and students, he said.

http://www.manilastandardtoday.com/?...ews5_mar2_2007
By Roderick T. dela Cruz
With AP

[LytSlpr]

Callcenters bad for you, callcenter executives themselves say.

Read here.

That is why Americans stay out of these kind of jobs here in the states and smart Filipinos are also trying to move out of it. If one is really smart, has the talent, dynamism and most importantly the GUTS, then a callcenter should not be a place for you. It is INDEED a DEAD END JOB, no matter how they convince you or their bigtime ads say otherwise.

It is in their organizational structure and nature of work which can never be changed and no matter how they say that the callcenter is stable, accounts ARE NOT so lay-offs are still imminent. Any business that is production in nature is never stable, even big, old companies.

[duke pikaso]

naa diay ni thread diri... mura man sa pex pod! hehehe

[LytSlpr]

daghan gyud matangtang ani..

mo lang! but contact centers do have random drug testing pero daghan man makalusot.