Brazilian Call Center Workers, Deemed "Essential," Fear COVID Infection

In recent years, Brazil has emerged as a hot spot for call center outsourcing. The nation has some natural business process outsourcing advantages: It has a multicultural labor pool that speaks English, Spanish, and Portuguese; labor costs are far lower than in the United States; and it shares many of the same time zones with the United States. During the global COVID-19 pandemic, however, Brazil has emerged as another kind of hot spot.

Today, Brazil has one of the highest COVID-19 infection rates in the world, second only to the U.S. and it’s rising case count. It has confirmed more than 2.1 million cases of Covid-19 and more than 80,000 deaths in a population of about 209 million. Brazil’s mortality rate per 100,000 is among the highest in the world, and the nation is struggling to find enough medical equipment and PPE to cope with the pandemic. This has left many workers in the call center industry feeling vulnerable.

According to a recent article, working conditions in Brazilian call centers is often poor, and the employees are paid minimum wage for a high-stress job.

“Call centers are notorious for having their employees work in close quarters – sometimes at four to a desk and thousands per floor – in offices with closed doors and windows that don’t open,” wrote Jill Langlois. “They spend their shifts trying to speak above the din of ringing phones and colleagues’ conversations, creating the perfect storm for the spread of the coronavirus, which is easily transmitted through spittle, especially in enclosed and highly populated spaces.”

Despite the working conditions and the pandemic, the call center industry has been designated as “essential” by the government of Brazil. The country’s Telecommunication Companies Workers’ Union (SINTETEL) has filed complaints against some large call center companies – most notably, Atento – but employees report that few preventive actions have been taken to keep employees healthy.

Some Brazilian call center workers have resorted to walking off their jobs, which puts many in a financially precarious position. Call center workers at BPO company Almaviva do Brasil went on strike in March, protesting outside one of the company’s locations in downtown São Paulo.

Edited by Erik Linask

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