Call Center Management Featured Article
During a Pandemic, Some Call Centers are Tapping Disabled, Home-Based Workers
While a small minority of call center jobs were already home-based before the COVID-19 emergency, the nation’s customers were still largely relying on customer service provided out of large, crowded call centers, whether at home or abroad. With many workplaces shuttered, call centers are no exception. Typically, call centers are busy, jam-packed and full of people talking: a dangerous mix during a pandemic. Often, these call centers are located in Asian countries that are currently in strict lockdown mode.
Some businesses are coping by turning to an untapped workforce: people who are ready and able to work from home, and highly motivated to do so. The call center industry has had to get creative when it comes to ensuring they have enough staff at the ready, particularly with increased call volumes due to closures, shipment delays and late bills, according to a recent article by Jaclyn Peiser writing for the New York Times.
“Call centers have had to adapt swiftly because the pandemic has dealt them a double blow,” wrote Peiser. “They are fielding more calls from customers inquiring about online orders or seeking refunds or forbearance. But many of the people who would normally answer those calls either can’t get to work or are not equipped to work from home.”
Peiser notes that disabled, home-based individuals are increasingly being tapped to make and take calls and field other contacts from home. The National Telecommuting Institute, a nonprofit that works with the Social Security Administration to match people with disabilities with home-based jobs, has been approached by nearly a dozen additional companies seeking workers in the last three weeks, according to the Times. The Institute’s COO, Alan Hubbard, told Peiser that his organization has handled about 30 percent more job openings in the past month than it did the same time one year ago.
“We’re looking at this as tremendous opportunity to place people with disabilities into jobs,” Mr. Hubbard told the Times. “Right now is the time companies can fulfill the promise to the Americans With Disabilities Act.”
There remain some barriers to placing disabled workers into call center jobs. In some cases, the workers may not have robust enough Internet or fast enough computers to cope with the cloud-based communications platforms, and call center companies will need to quickly ramp up their e-learning capabilities to help with training.
Edited by Maurice Nagle