After a couple of unpleasant flight experiences compounded by deeply dissatisfying customer service on US Airways over the past two weeks, I was interested to see this article in today's LA Times about the scope and impact of airlines outsourcing their customer service call centers to India, Jamaica, the Philippines, and even Lithuania. Like so many other customer service-oriented industries, the airlines seem to be trying to save money through an understaffing strategy. Ever tried to get help at a big box home improvement store? When is the last time you called an office supply store to find out if a product you want is in stock?
Outsourcing overseas often means you're dealing with customer service agents who don't know local geography and can't offer alternative routes. That's on top of limited training for customer service agents. They work from scripts and have little or no authority to make decisions. Turnover at Indian call centers runs at about 60-70%, and one study found that about half have less than a year's experience. This Fordist approach may allow phones to be answered by live humans, but whether it serves customers or workers is another question.
From a workforce development perspective, I wonder about workers who have to take heat from angry, frustrated customers day after day but who lack the educational background to do creative problem solving and/or the authority to take meaningful action to meet customer needs. Psychological studies have shown that "workers whose jobs rated high in job demands yet low in employee control (as measured by latitude over decisions) reported significantly more exhaustion after work, trouble awakening in the morning, depression, nervousness, anxiety, and insomnia or disturbed sleep than other workers."
The article reports that US Airways saved $14 million from February through May alone by sending 80% of customer service calls overseas. Swamped with complaints, they just spent $2 million to restore 350 U.S. agents. Providing workers with proper training, authority and wages can improve the quality of their work. However, if airlines are only interested in cutting costs, then they can't be surprised when customers are dissatisfied and workers quit.