A Study on the Work Nature of Call Centers and Its Contribution to the Gradual Disintegration of the Family

Abstract

The call center industry showed great hope for thousands of graduates who were left unemployed after finishing their respective courses. The promise of higher salaries and benefits attracted these graduates to work in the call center because there are not enough job opportunities to accommodate the ever-growing labor force in the country. For some call centers, having finished the first two years of college without any backlog subjects and an above average English proficiency is enough for an applicant to be selected and hired as a call center agent, while for others, a four-year degree is required. Most call center agents; specially the new ones do not have the liberty to choose their own schedules. Once hired, they are assigned in the night shift because during this time where the bulk of calls coming from the U.S. customers are at its peak. Though there may be some economic relief that seem to be enjoyed by call center workers, we cannot simply ignore the social and cultural impact that it creates that negatively affects our society specially the family which is the basic social institution of our society. This study will show how call centers exploit its workers and how the nature of its work gradually disintegrates the family. An accidental sampling survey was done in order to prove this hypothesis. Because of excessive work hours and high demands on the quality of work that a call center agent should accomplish has raised its toll not only on his or her physical well-being but also on their relationship with their families. The more work hours they spent and the more stress they acquire due to high demands of work, the amount of quality time they spent with their family is diminished. This study could pave way for further studies, specifically on delicate issues such as extramarital affairs, the number of people involved in promiscuous sex which could lead to unwanted pregnancies and the spread of HIV-AIDS and other sexually transmitted diseases.