Caring for customer service agents amidst the pandemic
“Working during the pandemic is so risky. But it’s worse if we just stay at home and there’s no food to eat. My house is so far from my work. There’s no jeep so I have to walk. Thankfully, during the ECQ (enhanced community quarantine), the company offered to house us so we can still work and have a salary. And the company provided us allowances and hazard pay and free meals. I am content but worried,” narrated Fatima Perido, an employee of a Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) unit in Cebu City who works as a Globe customer service representative. Fatima, like many call center agents, continues to brave the threat of the virus in order to survive and feed her family. But despite her difficult circumstances, other call center agents have it worse. The challenges that COVID-19 brought has prompted some of Globe’s BPO partners to close or limit their operations, drastically cutting down to less than 40% the manpower supporting Globe’s customer operations for both its hotline and
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