At the time of writing this, I noticed it's going to take much longer than anticipated to explain everything and give context (at the same time it's also reminding myself of why I'm actually doing it; it really helps when you put everything in writing apparently), so please note, this is going to be a fairly long post. I sincerely apologize and I thank you very much if you stuck to the end!
I'm currently working as customer support for a massive bus-train company (technically, I suppose I work for a third-party company, one of many, to which they've outsourced their customer support services).
The wage is relatively decent (at least compared to current wage rates for similar fields in my country). It actually is competitive pay. We've also got life and health insurance as well, so there's that. And with that out of the way, let's get to why I'm about do what I'm about to do:
- The work schedule is maddening. 50% of the time I'm assigned a 6-day work week with only a single day off (random day, almost never during the weekend). Weekly shift hours resemble something that came out of a random number generator (6 am – 2 pm; 7 am – 3 pm; 9 am – 5 pm; 2 pm – 10 pm; 4 pm – 12 am; 10 pm – 6 am). You can't take sick days (or if you do, you're supposed to be substituting those hours on other days (they pay as regular hours) on top of your normal schedule. You're only allowed a daily 30 minute lunch break with three shorter “comfort” breaks, 7 minutes each. I have no idea about the reasoning behind that 7-minute figure. You're also required to be clairvoyant (not an official job requirement for some reason) and let them know when you'll be taking those comfort breaks ahead of time (before you even start your shift actually) by filling out an Excel form beforehand. Which brings me to my next point:
- We are EXTREMELY micromanaged. We have a certain number of tasks (calls, emails, chats; whatever you've been assigned to for the day) that we have to complete during our 8-hour shift (75 tasks), which in itself is a relatively fair thing to ask for, I guess. But, the kicker is: they also monitor how long each of your calls are (90% of the time you'll be assigned to handling incoming calls). You're only allowed a 400 second AHT (average handling time) of the calls for the day. Used to be 300 seconds, but they changed it when they noticed how laughably low and unrealistic it was. If you exceed that 400 second mark, you best expect an email write-up the next day, which of course is going to go in your record. It only takes a single caller to keep you on the phone for about 15-20 minutes to pump up your daily AHT. Did I mention you're not allowed to hang up on them? Because, of course you're not. But, the cherry on top is you're also expected to never fall below 4.0 (out of a 5.0 max) stars rating (customers can rate the call at the end). Personally, I've never had a problem with that last part. I've always been above a 4.6 rating somehow. But, I can't stress enough how extremely difficult it is to be able to focus on genuinely helping a customer when the call duration time is always at the forefront of your mind. You're also only allowed a period of 20 seconds (which is monitored in real-time btw) to wrap up after the call (categorize a call, maybe even issue a refund and fill out a form for it, leave a comment on Salesforce AND backend, which usually takes a minute) and onto the next call you go. They, quite literally, expect quality AND quantity from you. It's mind boggling as to why they feel the need have the trifecta: AHT, wrap up of only 20 seconds but also a specific number of cases done during your shift. If I do my 75 tasks, why would they care how long I take during a call or after it? It's asinine. It does not make sense.
- They've switched all of us who work from home to going back to the office. I've been working from home for the last three months. It's the only thing that's actually kept me sane and able to deal with this “overly-attached girlfriend” bullshit. I live three hours away from my job. That's a six hour commute every day. I currently don't own a car, so I'd have to rely on public transportation, which is not always an option, due to their nonsensical work schedules. I could move, but I'd have to spend roughly 40% of my wage on rent. Which, frankly, at this point I don't even think is worth doing considering all of the things mentioned above. They only notified me a week ago about the home-to-office switch and informed me it's temporary (“It's only gonna be for a week, but we'll see”), so I've been booking the cheapest hostels I can find (which still ends up eating up 50% of my daily income) in hopes to going back to working from home. I only emailed them today, on my day off, asking for any updates on this, because God forbid they notify you beforehand. Only then did they tell me the switch is permanent. I still don't understand why are we not able to continue working from home? I guess if they don't have warm bodies filling up their offices, they feel like they won't be able to have a tight iron grip on us (more than they already do) and a literal eye over our shoulders.
I am exhausted. I am completely burnt out. It's bad enough that I'm doing one of the most notoriously soul-sucking jobs out there, with that kind of extreme micromanaging to boot. But, being able to do it from the comfort of your own home and not being allowed to, is just the straw that broke the camel's back.
So, let this serve as a reminder to you, dear reader, as much as it's gonna serve 'tomorrow me' (when I wake up and start having doubts about handing in that notice). Please put your mental health first. No job is ever worth that!