Australian call center union: Agent stress levels are increasing

2009-11-20 - Every third Australian contact center agent said they were always or often stressed at work. This is one of the results of a recent industry report conducted by the Australian Services Union (ASU).

ASU Assistant National Secretary, Linda White said the Union was concerned at the "disturbingly increase in stress levels from a benchmark study of the industry in 2000". The stress level appeared to be influenced by length of time in the call center industry, with those who had been in the industry for up to two years being more likely to report they never felt stressed at work than those who had been in the call center business for ten to 40 years.

Stressed agents intent to leave the industry
Stress at work was related to the intention to remain in the industry with those who reported they were likely to leave the industry in the next six months more likely to say that they always or often felt stressed at work. As the level of reported stress declined, the intention to stay increased. Thus it is likely that higher levels of stress lead to higher turnover levels, the analysts conclude.

The employment type appears to influence stress levels with those in precarious employment, such
as agency workers, casuals and temporary workers, more likely to report that they never feel stressed. This may be because contingent workers spend less time in the workplace or have less engagement with the workplace and are therefore less likely to feel stress, according to the union. The type of call center appears to influence stress with agents working in contract call centers more likely to report they are always stressed or never stressed.

Excessive monitoring and repetitive work main stress factors
The survey found that 31 percent of respondents said that excessive monitoring was an issue. Other stress factors mentioned by the survey participants: lack of variety in work (34 percent), inadequate staffing levels (27 percent), lack of training (26 percent) and poor ergonomics (25 percent).



Source: It's your call. Improving Australian call centres 2009, ASU

The survey revealed that 17 percent of respondents had suffered a workplace injury as a result of their call center work. This represents a decrease of over 20 percent from the last survey in 2000 where 38.6 percent reported a workplace injury. There is a relationship between suffering an injury at work and feeling stressed at work with, as the chart "I Suffered an Injury as a Result of my Call Centre Work by I Feel Stressed at Work" reveals, over 55 percent of those who reported an injury always or often stressed as opposed to 28 percent of those who had not suffered an injury.

The Australian call center industry is a fast growing industry which now employs almost one in forty working Australians. 16 million calls are made to Australian call centers every day. The industry employs over 250,000 agents in 3,800 call centers Australian wide, according to the ASU.

On the survey
The survey was distributed to both members and nonmembers in union and non-union call centers Australia wide and by an online survey accessed through the ASU website. The survey period opened on 20 November 2008 and closed on 28 February 2009. At the end of the survey period, the ASU received 1,549 responses, which were analyzed using the SPSS statistical package. It emerged that 61 percent of those who completed the survey were women and 38 percent men. The average age of the call center workers surveyed was 35 years and with 39 percent of the workforce aged 29 or less.

Download the full report PDF


Author(s): Sarah Dreps

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