Outraged over outsourcing? Get over it

Directory company Yellow’s decision to move its 018 business to the Philippines may be frustrating thousands of users but those complaining about poor service from overseas operators need to “get over it,” says a call centre expert.

TeleTech, the company contracted by Yellow to run its 018 and 0172 directory services, began shifting the phone number inquiry operation from Palmerston North to a Manila call centre in June, a move that has cost about 140 local call-takers their jobs.

Since the move, 018 callers have vented their frustrations with the service, saying the Filipino operators have provided incorrect numbers, or been unable to answer their queries, because of language difficulties and a lack of understanding of New Zealand’s geography and Maori place names.

Yellow chief executive Bruce Cotterill acknowledged 018 callers’ frustrations in a media statement last week but said the company was “committed to operating the 018 service from Manila in the foreseeable future”.

“The reality is 018 call volumes and revenues are gradually falling so we need to find the most economic way of providing the current service as well as building new services,” Cotterill said.

“As a New Zealand-operated service the financial model would have meant substantial prices increases, which is not favourable to New Zealanders.”

He said the training given to TeleTech staff in Manila on Maori pronunciation, New Zealand accents and colloquialisms, and familiarity with New Zealand businesses and geography would be expanded.

Cotterill’s stance has been backed by Catriona Wallace, the Sydney-based managing director of industry research agency callcentres.net.

Speaking in Auckland last week, where she was presenting the findings of her company’s annual survey on the state of New Zealand’s call centre business to an industry conference, Wallace said outsourcing of the more mundane kinds of call centre work – including answering directory inquiries – was an increasing trend and New Zealanders “need to get over it”.

“Organisations don’t make these decisions on a whim,” she said. “It is more cost effective for that work to be done offshore and those cost savings should eventually come back to the New Zealand consumer in prices not being increased for the services.”

Wallace said about 60 per cent of New Zealand call centre staff found their work boring and mundane, and international research suggested shifting menial phone work from a developed to developing countries provided an economic lift for the developed country because it allowed workers to take up more engaging and lucrative tasks within a business.

“Even though there may be some dislocation locally of some jobs, the net longer-term benefit to New Zealand from offshoring is probably greater than keeping these jobs onshore,” she said. –Simon Hendery, http://www.nzherald.co.nz