It was rather disappointing but not surprising to see, that the word “stress” is being searched on the Internet and Google happens to show this blog within the search results.  Interesting.

For someone who has been in the industry for quite some time, I agree it is rather a stressful job.  It would also depend on what part of the world you’re in as well.  For the Philippines and perhaps other countries that accept outsourcing jobs, it is tough.

There are several factors that make it stressful:

The Night Shift

We all know that being in the night shift screws up our body clock and with that our diet too.  Our  body gets the beating from the sudden change.  Schedules are also being changed ever so often and I’m not just talking about agents here.  Middle management and executives get it as well, sometimes even worse.

Number of transactions to be made

The demand for people is so high and because not everyone is equipped with the right skills, so many seats still need to be filled.  The calls keep coming and contracts can’t be broken.  For those who have been hired have to deal with the transactions, they are bombarded with continuous calls, even after their shift is done.  Ever heard of skipping break because they need the bodies to do the work?

Culture differences & personalities

We don’t just have to deal with American customers now.  There are Australians, the Kiwis (New Zealand), and the Brits.  It’s hard enough to deal with different personalities within our own culture, but for call center personnel, there is that extra effort to understand and learn the culture nuisances.

But, even with all of these factors, there is a way to cope with the seemingly endless stressful situations in the center.  Hey, I survived didn’t I?  If I can, you can too!