Long time lurker, first time poster. It’s taken me a long time to work up the courage to share my story here.
My previous job was at the call center for a pretty prominent phone accessories manufacturer. The role in itself wasn’t terrible to begin with, and the company (on paper) really seemed to care about its employees, especially those with mental health struggles. I am prone to panic attacks, and I thought I’d hit the jackpot when I landed my role here.
As the summer months approached, we found ourselves frequently and grossly understaffed, leading to long hold times and verbal abuse from customers. In the fall, this became even more amplified, as our systems for processing returns, viewing order details, etc. became broken. For context: the company was still using a very outdated CRM (Sugar), and every time IT attempted to make changes to the software, it would inevitably break our internal systems more.
It eventually got to a point where everyone on the front lines in my role was having to contact a supervisor on every interaction they took, just to view simple account details, process returns, etc. It carried on this way through the Holiday season. Our service levels were at less than 3% on any given day. If anyone is familiar with call center work, low service levels mean long hold times, which lead to angry customers. So, in addition to all of us not being able to perform our normal job functions, many of us found ourselves getting verbally abused by our customer base as a result. I personally found myself taking extra time between calls. This role was taking a severe toll on my mental health, and I was having panic attacks consistently. This is something I had been written up for, as “compliance” was one of the metrics their agents were scored on.
I eventually reached out to upper-management concerning how a business cannot be run and sustained while systems are as terribly broken as they were. I cited service levels, hold times, specific interactions, and overall agent morale in chat rooms at work. I also proposed the idea of granting some leniency with our metrics, as I do not believe one can be properly assessed on the work that they are completing when they are unable to complete said work to begin with—for reasons that are far outside of their control. I also cited mental health, which they claimed to care so much about, and I cited the fact that I had reached out to my manager in the middle of having a panic attack, only to be told very tactlessly over a teams message that I clearly was not a suitable fit for my role.
The response I got was lackluster at best, and riddled with toxic positivity statements. I was essentially told that in this role, we are expected to adapt and preserve, and use our soft skills to de-escalate customers, even when circumstances are our fault. I was told that perhaps my manager is right, and perhaps I’m just not suitable for this role:
Flash forward to January 3rd. In addition to work, circumstances in my own personal life had compounded, and I ended up going to psychiatric inpatient. I was also scheduled to have a 1:1 with my manager regarding my compliance. I was suicidal at this point and well knew they were going to try to fire me—despite the fact that I had an ADA claim open at the time to try to obtain accommodations regarding my panic disorder for work. I told my manager during our 1:1 that I was going to the hospital, and that I needed to go.
I was fired on my way home from inpatient, and also berated over the fact that they couldn’t reach me during the time that I was in the hospital for. They knew that I was going, and they knew very well why they couldn’t reach me. They take your phone when you do a psychiatric stay. I was fired on my drive home despite the fact that I had an ADA claim open, and despite the fact that I was desperately trying to get the right help.
Tldr: corporate America is disgusting. It doesn’t give a fuck about you or your mental health, and it runs rampant with toxic positivity.
I sell plants at a greenhouse now. I have a BA that’s just sitting. I don’t know if I’ll ever work a “real” job again.