Austrian Science Fund FWF - Global or National? An International Comparison of Call Centres

For Call Center advisers it is absolute area they plan as alive altitude are not the aforementioned everywhere. Strong differences abide in job above at both, the civic and all-around level.Store this angel in big sizeIn animosity of globalisation, alive altitude in alarm centres about the apple are still absolute by civic regulations. That was the aftereffect of a above abstraction accurate by the Austrian Science Fund FWF, which looked at 2,400 alarm centres in 17 countries. As a aftereffect to this study, the FWF is now allotment added all-embracing analyses and case studies that will analyze altitude in Austrian alarm centres with those in added countries.

Throughout the world, the amount of alarm centres is growing. These accessories action companies aiming to accomplish able forms of chump affliction a abundant accord of flexibility. Working altitude are generally aberant with agents accepting active on a acting or freelance basis, for example, and cutting-edge technologies beggarly that operations can calmly be outsourced to added locations, at home or abroad.

The application altitude in alarm centres throughout the apple accept now been advised as allotment of the Global Call Center Industry Project, accommodating by Cornell University (USA), the Institute of Work Psychology (UK) and FORBA (the Working Life Research Centre, Austria). This all-embracing activity set out to analyse whether the all-around advance of alarm centres is accepting accompanied by a growing aggregation in alive conditions. Or whether the adverse is the case, i.e. whether alive altitude at these alarm centres abide to be shaped by civic standards and rules. The abstraction has begin that alarm centres are conceivably not as "global" as one ability assume. For example, alive altitude at alarm centres in accommodating bazaar economies such as Austria, Germany and Denmark are decidedly bigger than in advanced bazaar economies such as the UK and USA.

IT’S BETTER TO BE COORDINATED
"In the accommodating bazaar economies, 41 percent of alarm centre jobs can be classed as analogously top above in agreement of flexibility, centralized ecology of the workforce and pay. An appraisal of alive altitude placed 24 percent of jobs into the low above category. In the advanced bazaar economies, however, the bearings is reversed, and accordingly beneath appealing. Almost bisected of all advisers are carefully monitored and accept low-paid jobs, with alone one in 5 workers adequate favourable alive conditions", explains Dr. Jörg Flecker, Project Manager amenable for Austria. The actuality that there are added acceptable alarm centre jobs in the accommodating bazaar economies can be put down to the added absolute abstruse apprenticeship system, harmonized employer / agent relations and stricter labour bazaar regulations that are in abode in these countries.

Nevertheless, even in Continental Europe, there is little anticipation that alarm centre jobs will become skilled, acceptable account application opportunities that action abiding job aegis and acceptable pay. Dr. Ursula Holtgrewe, a affiliate of the activity team, explains: "The added adapted a labour bazaar is, the keener companies and organisations are to outsource alarm centre plan to operations with added favourable aggregate agreements and industry standards. As a result, outsourced alarm centres all-embracing accept worse alive altitude than their centralized counterparts. Wages there are on boilerplate 18 percent lower and the above of plan is aswell lower in over 50 percent of outsourced alarm centres. The growing outsourcing of alarm centre operations gets in the way of the development of good, high-quality plan here."

GLOBAL CALL
The Global Call Center Industry Project has alone been able to aftermath these all-embracing analysis after-effects acknowledgment to the efforts of a arrangement of 40 interdisciplinary advisers from 20 countries. The allegation are based on a abstraction that was agitated out at 2,400 alarm centres in 17 countries and that consisted of a standardised survey, business case studies and able interviews.

Dr. Flecker's aggregation from FORBA was amenable for analysis plan in Austria, and accustomed allotment from the FWF. This abutment is now enabling plan to abide on added all-embracing allusive analyses based on the accepted study. Moreover, there are affairs to apparatus case studies advised to analyze altitude at alarm centres in Austria with their all-embracing counterparts.


Further advice on the Global Call Center Industry Project can be begin online at: www.globalcallcenter.org

Image and argument will be accessible online from Monday, 25th February 2008, 11.00 a.m. CET onwards: www.fwf.ac.at/en/public_relations/press/pv200802-en.html

Scientific Contact:
Dr. Ursula Holtgrewe
FORBA - the Working Life Research Centre
Aspernbrückengasse 4/5
1020 Wien, Austria
T +43 / 1 / 212 47 00 - 72
E holtgrewe@forba.at

Austrian Science Fund FWF:
Mag. Stefan Bernhardt
Haus der Forschung
Sensengasse 1
1090 Wien, Austria
T +43 / 1 / 505 67 40 - 8111
E stefan.bernhardt@fwf.ac.at

Copy Editing & Distribution:
PR&D - Public Relations for Research & Development
Campus Vienna Biocenter 2
1030 Wien, Austria
T +43 / 1 / 505 70 44
E contact@prd.at


Vienna, 25th February 2008

The Austrian Science Fund (FWF) is Austria's axial anatomy for the advance of basal research. It is appropriately committed to all branches of science and in all its activities is guided alone by the standards of the all-embracing accurate community.