Workforce Management Featured Article
Call Center Agents on the Front Lines in Coronavirus War
Call center agents typically make up the "front end" in customer service and communications. As the war against COVID-19 rages on and many U.S. agents have been deemed "essential" employees, they are now finding themselves on the front lines of battle, often in potentially dangerous and terrifying conditions.
The call center industry is already fraught with problems ranging from low pay, lack of employee incentives, and one of the highest rates of turnover and churn in the country. And for all the incredible technology that exists to enable remote work for agents, most call centers still typically operate like farms, with hundreds of agents packed into small spaces to maximize efficiency.
These types of call centers fail to meet the social distancing and health and safety regulations mandated throughout the country because of COVID-19. And in many cases, the companies running them are not allowing employees to work from home nor offering any concessions to allay their fears and uncertainty surrounding the spread of the coronavirus.
Beyond being terrified of working in crowded buildings, in close proximity to their coworkers, many call center employees claim they are being denied leave and are unable to care for children, who are home because of school closures. An employee at a call center in Kansas for Maximus, a government contractor, recently told In These Times that the process for applying for leave was not working.
"After applying online I immediately received an email from Maximus saying that I didn't qualify for the leave," said the agent, who remained anonymous. "My supervisor told me to talk to human capital (that's what they call HR now) about it, but they wouldn't speak to me. They said they would only take appointments. I applied for an appointment twice and got no response."
"We were also told to tell our supervisors if we were sick," added the worker. "I have symptoms of a cold right now, which I relayed to my supervisor. We assumed they were going to send everyone who was sick home, but human capital never responded. And I'm still scheduled to go into work tomorrow."
Considering the vast quantity of remote work technology and tools available to call centers, the trend of keeping employees on premises amidst the global coronavirus pandemic is troublesome. Many solutions, like Serenova's CxEngage Rapid Response program, are specifically designed to help call centers move their employees to a remote work model quickly and efficiently.
States throughout the country have been overwhelmed by complaints that call centers and other businesses are operating under unsafe conditions amid the COVID-19 crisis. Hopefully those complaints will prompt systemic changes throughout the call center industry and enable employees to work remotely throughout the pandemic and well beyond it.
Edited by Maurice Nagle