The
chairwoman of the Call Centre Management Association has branded the TUC’s
campaign to name and shame call centre managers as “regressive”.
At
a call centre conference held in
London, Ann-Marie Stagg claimed the union campaign to shop shoddy employers was
detrimental to the sector.
She
said, “I don’t think that call centres are exploiting their staff. Whatever the
results of the TUC survey, we need to keep them in perspective.”
The
TUC report on the sector, released last week, claims that call centre
employees’ salaries are 40 per cent less than average earnings. The It’s Your
Call campaign says that call handlers can earn as little as £7,500.
Call
handlers in Wales are the lowest paid with an average salary of £11,100, with London’s
being the highest on £14,050.
Call
centres employ over 400,000 people, which is more than the coal, steel and
vehicle manufacturing industries put together.
The
report estimates that by 2008 there will be over 665,000 full-time equivalent
jobs in the industry.
Although
call centres are characterised by low pay, the report claims that the
concentration of centres in areas like Glasgow and South Wales is driving up
standards as employers compete with each other to keep staff. Some operators
can earn over £20,000.
The
survey also includes case studies which highlight the type of working
conditions in call centres. When joining, one employee went on a month-long
training course for which she was only paid for two weeks and she was then told
she would not get the rest of her money until she has completed her
probationary period, four months later.
She
also claimed that she had to pay for her own headset.
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By
Paul Nelson
