The voice of nebusiness
May 19 2010 by Andrew Hebden, The Journal
THE term "Black Monday" is sometimes used in the call centre industry in reference to the tendency among some younger workers to take an extra day off after a heavy weekend.
For the management and staff at Garlands Call Centres, however, this week’s Monday was the blackest they’ve ever experienced.
Call centres are renowned for experiencing ups and downs as new contracts are won and lost. They typically have very fluid workforce levels and staff don’t expect especially high levels of job security.
Having said that, the news that Garlands Call Centres had gone into administration sent shockwaves not just through the business or sector, but across the whole of the region.
Chey Garland, who to her credit was brave enough to face up to the media in the aftermath of the decision, had built a business that was regarded as a flagship of the sector. Her personal story too was remarkable and inspirational. And, while she famously enjoyed the limelight and the trappings that came with her successes, very few people will feel anything other than huge sympathy for her plight in the wake of her company’s collapse.
Most analyses of this region’s performance during the recession made the point that its diverse economy has been a source of strength. In the past, the North East was heavily reliant upon one or two huge industries for employing tens of thousands of workers, but today there is no such dependence.
If there is a sense of vulnerability, it is in the heavy dependence on the public sector for jobs. Yet this week’s news will also spark concerns about the long-term fate of the call centre industry, which employs around 60,000 people in the region.
The failure of one business – albeit the single largest of its type – should not provoke doomsday scenarios about the future of the entire sector. After all, there are still plenty of jobs being created in this sector, such as by Tesco Bank at Longbenton.
But, in the wake of the failure of Shop Direct in Sunderland – where 900 people were made redundant in January – there are questions to be asked about the sustainability of so many call centre jobs in a sector where e-commerce is increasingly playing a more important role.
The North East has done well from the call centre industry and is home to some excellent training facilities. But as the skills required by those working in contact centres change, it’s important that those responsible for this sector ensure North East call centre workers are given the chance to move with the times.
The cost of failing to prepare for change doesn’t bear thinking about.
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