Service Industry Jobs

Well I've started reading a book by Richard Sennett called the corrosion of Character and it's interesting in its criticism of the "new capitalism". I was also thinking about how we talked in one of my Canadian studies classes about "telework" and the call centre experience.

Now that I'm living it I can understand why everyone is so critical about it. I hate it, I find it ridiculous and to be honest I feel like I'm being de-skilled as I work. The lack of control is embedded in the very network idea that we are part of. The constant attempt to fit the normal human behaviour into our patterns and packages of information that are useful to us, is frustrating for us and it must be for the callers as well.

The lack of security and benefits is also an issue. I count myself among the lucky ones, I work for a government call centre though of course I'm not actually employed by the government itself. I can only imagine the hell that would be an outbound call centre.

The thing I'm really scared about it ending up being stuck there for any serious length of time. I already see a lot of people there who are talented smart people stuck in a call centre. It seems to be an employer (not of choice) but of last resort for many young (and not so young people) people. I am afraid of ending up like those people. Unfortunately especially in a "service" industry town like Ottawa the only jobs being created are in call centres, some high tech and financial services.

I tried the financial services angle and it sucked, I actually my time at the bank i worked at was the worst work experience I've ever had. I haven't had a whole lot but it was dismal. What a joke, i can't believe they really expect the bank tellers who have no input into anything, and have to deal with all the stupid mistakes that they make from up top, would actually buy into the system. What a joke!

In reading Sennett's book i realize the horrible language they use to describe what they are doing. Why the hell would my boss be "coaching" me? She's my boss not a coach. I think that's what bothered me the most about the job, they expected loyalty from me for nothing in return. That's the problem with work these days they are trying to extract the old values where people cared about their job without the commensurate responsibility on the employer side.

I've never worked in any other workplace so dominated by the measurement of every single type of activity and the focus on productivity. Being paid the12$ an hour I was making doesn't encourage loyalty especially when the job itself requires little or no skill and you are unable to take any sort of initiative. The attempts to force us into "volunteering" also put me off. I worked in another bank and there was none of that attempt to control everything we were doing.

The bank that I worked at in the past focused on simple customer service. That was all, and that's what people got.

One thing that really bothers me both as a customer and as a employee is the attempt made by companies to make you fit into their mold. "You have to do it this way", why? Because it's easier for us[the company]. If the customer is always right and these companies were serious about customer service we wouldn't have these problems.