Call Centers, aka Planet Motherfucker

I don't claim to be an expert, but I have worked in 9 call centers either as a Telecom professional or a call center/customer service agent.  What's my beef with Call Centers?  Why do the companies that contract with call centers pay more to train agents than to retain them?  AT&T pays Teleperformance $15,000 A PIECE to train agents, but nominal or no fees to retain those agents.  Do the math: Ten agents=$150,000.  So what do you think Teleperformance is going to do with those agents?  If your answer was "treat them like pond scum and throw them out faster than yesterday's trash" you win the $49.99 prize.  Logically those companies paying so dearly for training would maybe do some overseeing, such as, I don't know, maybe analyzing the number of people being trained vs. the number of people who have actually stayed on the job for longer than 6 months.  It doesn't take a rocket scientist to figure out that when a company pays more to train employees than to retain employees, that call center is going to install a high-speed electronic revolving door on their building.  Paying for training is simply a money maker, a "cash cow" if you will.

Because it's a money maker, getting rid of agents quickly is the main goal, so call centers have collectively devised childish and cruel methods of beating down agents' self-esteem and confidence while maintaining the pseudo-professional statistic-collecting mumbo-jumbo needed for management and HR to justify their positions.  Pitting employees against each other is one more tactic of getting rid of employees - they'll rat each other out faster than you can say hostile work environment.  A crummy job market is obviously an employer's dream, because they not only can pick and choose but they always have a fresh supply of warm bodies to fill positions and keep that cash flow going.

It sure makes me proud when I see all the corruption, depravity, hostility and ruthlessness that the combination of lousy employers and high unemployment fosters.  All of this ties into my previous rantings about a common thread among companies and businesses who are more concerned with their bottom line than with people or quality or investing in the future.  The "grab what you can" attitude is probably the main reason that humans will eventually destroy one another and of course the planet in the process.  Yey for us!