ABSTRACT
This chapter starts with the overall patterns of call centre development in the United Kingdom (UK), Netherlands and the USA, and identifies the sectoral and locational characteristics. It focuses on management's efforts to deal with both the routine and problematic issues arising from the specific conditions, content and organisation of call centre work. The questions of management philosophy and style, and the nature of the prevailing employment relations system, are of particular importance in the frequently volatile environment of the call centre. Collective bargaining coverage is much higher than union density in the Netherlands and UK and slightly higher in the USA. The deregulation of telecommunications has presented the unionised call centres with threats to their conditions from certain sources. Certain distinct approaches to the employment relationship reflect important trends occurring in the context of the growth of outsourcing. Many outsourcing organisations place particular emphasis on holding labour costs as low as possible as total call centre costs.
