- More than 140,000 call center jobs will vanish from the
United States over the next four years as companies seek to lower customer
service costs by shipping work to Canada and other countries with lower
labor costs, according to a study released this week. The report, published
by market researcher Datamonitor, predicts the number of American call
centers will decline 6 percent by 2008, from 50,600 today to 47,500. At
the same time, Canada will sprout 800 new ones, along with 93,000 new call
center agent jobs, the report says.
-
- Canada isn't the sole beneficiary of the call center
migration, however. American companies are opening call center operations
in India, Mexico and the Philippines, the Datamonitor study said. A large
pool of English-speaking workers and lower wages make these locales appealing
to U.S. companies.
-
- The scarcity of call center jobs is also as a result
of new technologies and the passage earlier this year of the federal Do
Not Call list, which has curtailed telemarketing campaigns. High-tech call
center systems that allow callers to pay bills or change address without
ever talking to a call center agent means companies need fewer workers
to man their call centers as well.
-
- The same shift is happening in the United Kingdom, according
to another Datamonitor study release earlier this month. Companies with
U.K. operations are moving call centers to Eastern European countries--including
the Czech Republic, Hungary and Romania--and North Africa.
-
- The phenomenon, sometimes called "nearshoring,"
allows companies to shift jobs offshore while minimizing customer service
problems that can crop up by relocating call centers halfway across the
globe. For instance, Dell stopped using a Bangalore, India, call center
for some U.S. technical support calls after customers complained about
language difficulties and delays in reaching senior technicians.
-
- Copyright ©2004 CNET Networks, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
-
- http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104-5325500.html?tag=header.newsfeed
|
