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... Often those whose skills are non-specific or unskilled end up being precarious workers (Huws, 2009), belonging to what was previously identified as the precariat (Standing, 2016). The form and incidence of precarious work varies among countries (Sieben et al., 2005). In most cases, it is best revealed using multiple criteria pertaining to worker relative disadvantage (ilo, 2016). ...
Critiques of the way workforces were managed in capitalist market economies throughout the 20th century exist but are not necessarily relevant to emergent industries. In the digital age, new economic sectors have proliferated. These are often associated with distinctive labor management practices. A case in point is the telecommunications retail sector—shopping mall outlets where salespeople sell smartphones and associated contracts. In such outlets, it is difficult for consumers to accurately assess their needs and make informed choices, a phenomenon sometime described as confusopoly . This study provides evidence that confusopoly not only characterizes the relationship between customers and firms in the retail telecommunications industry but is also a construct that aptly applies to the employment relationship existing between vendors and their employer. Five themes supporting this conclusion are presented which draw on the results obtained from two focus-groups conducted with Canadian telco vendors in the summer of 2020.
... Over het algemeen was het ziekteverzuim ten tijde van het onderzoek in 2008 redelijk laag: 4,9 procent. Dat ligt in de buurt van het gemiddelde ziekteverzuim van alle Nederlandse werknemers (4,1 procent in 2008; Klein Hesselink et al., 2012) en veel lager dan het gemiddelde verzuim in Nederlandse callcenters (ongeveer 10 procent in 2005; De Grip et al., 2005). De redenen hiervoor zijn niet onderzocht. ...
Happiness in the Digital panopticum
Happiness in the Digital panopticum
Employees are widely believed to perceive management control as negative. Labor-process researchers have discussed employee reactions to control regimes in terms of resistance. Yet, do employees always resist? Could control even be welcomed? A call center is an appropriate environment for answering these questions. Because of its intensive control systems, call centers have been labeled as ‘electronic panopticon’. Through controlled interviews, observation and document analysis, the opinions of call center agents regarding intensive control were studied in an in-house call center of a Dutch insurance company. Our research concluded that it is not possible to generalize respondent perception to management control as always negative; we therefore distinguished three types of perception regarding control: opponents (the ‘unwilling’), proponents (the ‘willing’) and disinterested (the ‘indifferent’). We conclude with recommendations for praxis.
... Within centres, the layers of collective agreements (for those hired through temporary agencies, and those who are directly hired by the user firm) allows for some escape from stronger collective agreements to weaker ones. Dutch call centre managers often rely on temporary personnel to cope with business fluctuations during the course of a year: 61 percent of in-house call centres and 74 percent of subcontractor call centres employ temporary staff hired through an agency (de Grip et al., 2005). On the one hand, call centre employers can enhance workforce flexibility while operating within the Dutch industrial relations system. ...
... For example, the national tele phone company KPN established a stand-alone subcontracting firm, SNT, enabling the latter to negotiate a separate agreement with AbvaKabo that included 40 percent lower salaries and lower benefit offerings than the KPN collective agreement (van Klaveren and Sprenger, 2008). The KPN collective agreement with AbvaKabo consisted of much more comprehensive protections than the more recent SNT collective agree ment (de Grip et al., 2005). The banking and airline sectors also offer examples of firms trying to avoid the Dutch industrial relations system. ...
... Three levels of agents exist: those who perform well on one task such as sales or service; those who handle any type of call (inbound, outbound, sales, service); and highly skilled agents who handle high-value transactions and new projects (interview data). In this centre, in-house agents work on average 30 hours per week in financial services and earn €13.80 an hour (de Grip et al., 2005). ...
This article uses qualitative and quantitative evidence from call centres to show how the Dutch industrial relations system balances employer needs for workforce flexibility with the interests of employees. The normalization of temporary agency work in the Netherlands helps employers build workforce flexibility, reducing pressures on firms to subcontract work and to escape the existing regulatory system. In addition, the inclusiveness of the Dutch collective bargaining system, with the majority of call centre workers covered by a collective agreement, reduces differences in working conditions. Nonetheless, variations in negotiated agreements covering in-house workers, subcontractors and temporary agency workers lead to tiers of segmentation among these secondary labour market jobs.
... Freelancers are not used at all in our sample. 14 Temporary agency workers also play a quantitatively minor rolein contrast to the UK and the Netherlands (de Grip et al. 2005), for example. Although about half of the companies in our sample do use temps, they do so to a comparatively minor extent. ...
Call centers have certain features that set them apart from the other industries under study. They do not in fact constitute an industry as such, but a specific form of work organization. Telephone customer inquiries, which formerly used to be scattered among the various departments of companies, are centralized in a call center. Very frequently the goals behind this decision are to intensify the company's customer orientation, on the one hand, and to handle customer communication more cost-effectively and efficiently, on the other hand. Call centers may be either units within existing companies in various industries or new independent service providers that work for one or several principals. Only in the case of the latter organizational form can we speak of a new (emerging) "industry." Moreover, the tasks performed in call centers are by no means all simple and standardized: they can range from very simple processing to more complex clerical work or even highly skilled (academic) consulting.
... As a consequence, the share of call centre employees in employment is becoming substantial. It is estimated, for example, that in the Netherlands in 2004, approximately 2.5 per cent of the working population were employed in call centres (De Grip et al., 2005), which is the second highest percentage in Europe, after Ireland (De Grip et al., 2006). In the USA, call centres employ about 3 per cent of the workforce (Deery and Kinnie, 2004). ...
... It was estimated that in the Netherlands in 2004, approximately 2.5 per cent of the working population was employed in call centres (De Grip et al., 2005). This is the second highest percentage in Europe, after Ireland (De Grip et al., 2006). ...
Personal, job, as well as contract characteristics and workplace attitudes were related to frequency of absenteeism and intention to leave of call centre employees. Frequency of absenteeism and intention to leave were found to be mainly influenced by contract characteristics and workplace attitudes, while job characteristics and personal characteristics were less important.
Disaster mitigation is one of the phases within the disaster management cycle which alleviates the adverse impact of disasters by instituting structural and non-structural measures where infrastructure and people are at risk. Disaster mitigation remains an overlooked phenomenon by governments in developing countries, despite its negative repurcusion which is aggravated by economic downturns, infrastructural destruction and political unrest. The literature review reveals a need for long-term disaster mitigation strategies to be carried out well before disaster events. Among the most crucial demands are the need to embed mitigation in government departments’ planning programmes, the need for community participation and intergovernmental relations with the aim to create disaster resistant communities. The purpose of the article is to contribute to the development of a robust disaster management framework and the centre within eThekwini Municipality with the aim to create properly balanced mitigation strategies. Furthermore, to add value to the body of knowledge in South Africa as there are a limited number of researchers who have contributed to the study of disaster mitigation. The research was undertaken at the Foreman and Kennedy Road informal settlements located in Clare Estate, under Ward 25, in Durban. Questionnaires were self-administered to a population size of 220 respondents, from which a sample size of 140 respondents completed the questionnaires, thereby generating a response rate of 63.6%. Interviews were also conducted with municipality officials involved in disaster management. Data was analysed in the form of frequency distribution and cross-tabulation tables. The article indicates a significant difference between sturdy and non-compliance building materials used to build the informal settlements. The article indicates that eThekwini Municipality does not have mitigation strategy as well as short or long-term planning. The building density, the use of combustible building materials for wall and roofs, and structural instability, all have a considerable influence on the spread of fire to the informal settlements.
The purpose of this chapter is to explore the factors that shape the level of pay and organization of work in call centers in Europe and the United States. It goes beyond prior research, which has focused primarily on the intrinsic quality of jobs, and has tended to draw on studies within countries, particularly the United States and the United Kingdom. Here, we examine variation across countries, specifically focusing on the way that differences in labor market institutions shape employer strategies, working conditions, and pay across national borders, as well as within them. We are interested in whether pay and job quality is higher or lower in countries with historically high levels of labor market protections and collective representation, compared to those with lower levels of labor market regulation. We also seek to explore whether institutional variation leads to differences in employer strategies in setting pay and organizing work. The call center example is a particularly useful one to examine because, as an emerging phenomenon, it has afforded opportunities for employers to set up workplaces outside of traditional industrial relations systems.
