The Call Center Industry: Comparing Union, Nonunion,

1
The Call Center IndustryComparing Union,
Non-union, Offshore Workplaces

• Rosemary Batt, Ginny Doellgast, Hyunji Kwon
• Industrial and Labor Relations School
• Cornell University
• Ithaca, NY 14853
• May 12, 2005

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Todays Talk

• How is the industry changing and what does it
  mean for the CWA?
• How does the union affect CSR work?
• Pay benefits
• Skills and training
• Work organization
• Outcomes, such as turnover, job stability
• 3. What are the implications for union strategy?

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Industry Changes Telecommunications

• Decline in traditional union regulated sector
• 98 of local communications in 1984
• 60 in 1998
• 35 in 2003
• Growth of unregulated local access (1998-2003)
• Wireless subscribers up by 73 million customers
• High speed data access up by 68 million circuits

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Employment Change in Telecoms 1998-2003
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Telecom Regulatory Environment
of Company Revenue That Goes to Taxes
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Service Quality by Industry Segment
of Customers Satisfied with their Service
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Industry ChangesThe Call Center Industry

• Rapid Growth in
• Non-union in-house centers (banking, airlines)
• Non-union subcontractors (Sykes, Converges)
• Non-union offshore providers (Philippines, India)
• CWA working in a much broader arena
• Across different industries in the U.S.
• Across national boundaries

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What Difference Does the Union Make?

• International Call Center Survey
• Four types of centers
• Union in-house
• Non-union in-house
• Outsourced
• Indian offshore
• Four dimensions of work
• Pay levels
• Skills, training
• Work organization
• Outcomes such as turnover

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Quality Scorecard
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Annual Pay Levels (US )
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Years of Education
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Days of Initial Training
13
Weeks to Become Qualified on Job
14
Who Rely on Scripted Texts
15
Discretion with Customers
16
Use of Problem-solving Groups
17
Time Electronically Monitored
18
Supervisor Monitoring
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Annual Turnover
20
With Less Than 1 Year Tenure
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Quality Scorecard
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Quality Scorecard
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Quality Scorecard
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Quality Scorecard
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Quality Scorecard
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Opportunities for Strategic Action?

• Union competitive advantage
• Highly skilled committed workforce
• Good jobs with low turnover
• High quality service
• Union challenges Low-cost competition
• In telecoms uneven playing field
• In call centers globalization