Was chatting with a friend/former coworker today. Apparently our old company (his current company) is having problems with remote workers having tech issues, or calling out with no back up (the nerve!)
This is after the busy holiday season (only slightly busier than every other busy season during the year, but they were slammed with calls, long shifts, and misery for a couple of months straight). He told me their main software had routine down AND slow periods during that time, but of course that was not factored into their metrics whatsoever (despite it not being their fault).
The company’s solution? Well, they can’t hire more workers. Clearly they blow through them and burn them out way too quickly, and btw that’s totally the worker’s fault. Every time they claimed to be almost at staff, there would be some new notice that they were getting more floods of trainees. Last year’s crop for this month had 10 people in it, according to my friend, and it looks like 1 person made it to his company anniversary this year.
They can’t update the call center workers with new technology, or better, more reliable apps. Or just, you know, accept that shit will happen when you are cheap.
So what do they do? Penalize the workers, of course! There used to be some differentiation between an absence where the worker notified the supers vs one in which they just didn’t “show up,” but now, absence types don’t matter. So idk why anyone would bother calling out, if it doesn’t behoove them one way or the other.
Have to call out a small handful of times? (Most people who work at the company are part time flex, which means they can be forced to work full time hours routinely but get no benefits or PTO) You’ll get a talking to. Then a write up. Then probably further disciplinary action, up to and including termination. All because you got sick, or had any number of other problems that humans have.
Oh, and as previously hinted, remote workers are all given terrible, 10< years old equipment to do their jobs, so if that craps out on you or you have a power outage/internet issue, that counts as an absence now too!
SMH. So glad I don’t work there anymore. I know call centers are notoriously bad for mental health and treating their workers like cattle, but with the Great Resignation going on, I’m hoping at least some of them will get comeuppance at some point.