The Changing Face of the Call Centre Industry in Canada
As the call centre industry continues to grow and evolve, the range of services offered has altered. In a service economy employers try to increase profits through enhanced customer service. They use the call centre industry to provide these services and nearly half of the companies in this sector now offer services 24 hours a day....... more

Manitoba's Call-Centre Explosion: A Preliminary Overview
This paper briefly outlines the development and diversity of the call centre industry in Manitoba and argues that provincial policy, which has focussed solely on encouraging the growth of the industry, needs to take a more balanced approach that protects community interests as well as business interests. ...... more

Unions and Call Centres: The UK Experience
The composition of the call center workforce is roughly two-thirds female and one-third male, with the majority under the age of 30. Most workers are employed on full-time - and one-third on part-time - permanent contracts, and less than 10% are temporary, agency staff. Traditional ‘nine to five’ office hours have been superseded by a requirement to work ‘24/7’ and a range of other shift systems in alignment with perceived customer demand or availability....... more

Women in European Call Centres: Work, Skills and Opportunities
The dramatic growth of the call centre ‘industry’ across Europe over the last few years has been the subject of considerable public debate. The number of people employed in call centres in Europe has grown rapidly over the last ten years. Datamonitor has estimated that more than 1 per cent of the European working population are employed in call centres (Datamonitor 1998). It is also estimated that approximately seventy per cent of all call centre agents in the UK are female (IDS 1997; Mitial 1998)....... more