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Some thoughts on Sunday newspaper ads for Call Center Personnel

Every Sunday I do a quickie review of the "Job Market" sections of the PDI. I have had the feeling during the past few weeks that things aren't going so well for the call centers in their recruitment efforts. For example, eTelecare today offered free tickets to an MTV show and a P4000 signing bonus for trainees starting on November 2. The company is looking for 2000 new employees. Where will it find them? Well, most probably in other call centers. Dell has been aggressively hiring to reach its employment target, offering better terms and higher salaries to take experienced agents and administrators from others. This will of course drive up salaries and benefits and the cost of doing business for the call centers. At what point will the Philippines lose its lustre as a rising star in the industry? Clearly we have to focus on producing more talent out of the schools, and work even harder to meet the increasing demand for skills, primary of which is English language.

Note also that almost all of the ads - many of which are expensive full-pagers - feature not the prospects for professional growth, but the fun factor. Come join us and you will have a good time. Now being an old codger myself, I would have thought that the good times would play second fiddle to the idea of building a professional career and moving on in life. My observation is that this appeal to fun and good times, is meant to appeal to a lower calibre of employee and is also a mark of the difficulty that call centers are having in finding good people.