UWI opens Call Center to employ Students - Call Center Work before Six Degrees of Hell in the Working World

It seems that UWI (University of the West Indies) is now going the route of equipping its graduates with some lifelong Customer Care skills; much needed among graduates who may find work a little hard to get in Jamaica.

The prestigious Caribbean University decided in July 2012AD prior to the excitement of the London 2012AD Olympics to debut a one-of-a-kind opportunity for Students to earn money on Mona Campus by working at a Call Center  - also hosted on the Mona Campus! This as stated in the article “Students on the line”, published Wednesday, August 15, 2012 by N Reid, The Jamaica Observer.

Even more interesting, this one-of-a-kind partnership may begin to spread to the other Campuses of the University of the West Indies and even to Colleges looking for creative way to make additional revenue from empty buildings on Campus and at the same time assist Students in affording their College Education.

This is unique as no other University in the Caribbean has done this; partner with a FDI (Foreign Direct Investor) to provide Call Center Services using University Students. UWI is undertaking this bold new adventure in partnership with US-based Sutherland Global Services, a specialist in Call Centers both Inbound (Customer Care i.e. receiving Calls) and Outbound (Sales Agent i.e. Making Sales), albeit it appears that UWI Students will mainly do Inbound to avoid stressing them out….I hope!

Hopefully too UWI will also consider other ventures and partnerships such as with Alternative Energy Companies in a bid to bring down the cost of running the University as stated in my blog article entitled “How UWI can save money in a recession”.

According to the UWI, the Students apparently will be paid about JA$200 to JA$300 per hour as can be deduced from their Press Statement, quote: “The UWI/SGS advantage will provide [Students] with an opportunity to work as a customer-care consultant while taking home more pay than others in the industry performing at a similar level”.

Sutherland Global Services has a total of thirty (30) Call centers in both the Eastern and Western Hemispheres. This includes:

1. Canada
2. USA
3. Mexico
4. Nicaragua
5. United Kingdom
6. Egypt
7. India
8. The Phillipines
9. The United Arab Emirates
10. Bulgaria

Their core business being BPO (Business Process Outsourcing), a fancy name for Call Centers, Sutherland Global mainly appears to deal with Inbound Customer Care and Technical Accounts mainly in the following fields:

1. Airline e.g. Asia Air
2. IT and technology,
3. Retail,
4. Banking and finance e.g. Deutsche Bank
5. Telecommunications

Thus, rather than just being CSA (Customer Service Agents), the University Students may also be TES (Technical engagement Specialists) who mainly work on Technical Accounts. Idle PAS (Pure and Applied Sciences) Student on Campus should love this, as they finally get the chance to assist others over the phone using what they know while making some extra cash working a maximum of twelve (12) hours a day in a flex-work environment.

The Students seemed to agree, as hundreds lined up for interviews at the Faculty of Law by the University's Placement and Career Services Department in July 2012AD for work that will begin in September 2012AD. What this means is that at the time of publication of the Jamaica Observer article and the time of writing this article, the UWI Students may be undergoing at least four (4) week’s worth of training to qualify them to work on one of Sutherland Global Services Accounts by the start of Classes in September 2012AD!

More signs that Flex-work and Tele-working is the Wave of the future as predicted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Convergys heralds Age of Empire for Call Centers and Jamaica’s Adoption of Flexi-Work and Tele-Working” and “Digital JAM 2.0 introduces Freelancer.com and MobileWorks to Jamaica as the GOJ readies Flexi-work Legislation”.

In fact, the GOJ is pursuing it as a means of creating more employment in Jamaica as stated in the article “Flexi-work study: Employers happy but some workers resist change”, published Sunday July 15, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner. So by the time many graduate in 2015AD, flexi-work on Contracts may be the ONLY type of work that exists!

UWI, it seems, is awakening to the fact that there is a strong possibility that on leaving the UWI with your Degree, you may have to sit at home for awhile before getting a job. This in turn will impact High School leaver’s decision to come to UWI to do a Degree.

High school leavers are wary of Higher education, as they see no point in Higher Education especially as it’s out of the reach of many Jamaicans.  With the Damocles Sword of Student’s Loan hanging over your head, having a Degree and a lack of employment is a sure killer of your Social Life and your Life in General moving forward!

Hence many High School leaves working in Call Centers like the fact that they are now adults working on their own, albeit living with parents. Thus show very little interest in going to University when they can get a job that pays as much as JA$30,000 per month with just five (5) CXC (Caribbean Examination Council) or CSEC five (5) (Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate) primarily Mathematics, English and two (2) other subjects, the main qualifications of a Call Center.

With Cheaper alternatives to UWI emerging that are becoming more and more accepted by the Workplace due to their emphasis on Practice Work related skills, most of these High School leavers may therefore turn their noses up at UWI. Thus this Call Center partnership with Sutherland Global Services is a move by the UWI to become more competitive and offer a more rounded, work-ready education.

This is UWI’s adjustment to the coming crush of competition from these low-cost Colleges by offering to meet Students half way; create a non-discriminatory work Environment on Campus so Students can earn while they learn a practical work skill, that being CSA or TES, quid pro quo for landing a regular 9-to-5 job later on.

But most obviously and not being publicly mentioned is the fact that it’s a PR (Public Relations) response to the incident that occurred earlier this year with Third Year Students stopping Exams on Campus because the UWI denied them the right to sit the exams due to a lack of funds to pay their tuition as stated in the article “Protesting students stop UWI exams”, published Monday, April 30, 2012 By COREY ROBINSON Observer staff reporter, The Jamaica Observer.

After three (3) solid days of protesting, the UWI administration caved and gave the students an extension as stated in the article “UWI students given fee extension”, published Tuesday, May 01, 2012, The Jamaica Observer and “Protesting UWI students not savages” Friday, May 11, 2012, The Jamaica Observer.

The UWI need to allow students to pay after the exams have been sat, with a denial of grades or further advancement if they don’t pay up; more time for parents’ to find the money.

To put it in perspective, just was just like the victory of CURE (Citizens United for the Reduction of the cost of Electricity), represented by claimants Dennis Meadows, Betty Ann Blaine and Cyrus Rousseau over the GOJ (Government of Jamaica) and the JPS co (Jamaica Public Service company) as stated in my blog article entitled “Justice Brian Sykes says JPS Co exclusive license invalid - Energy Sector Liberalization CURE and Bourne Legacy for Phillip Paulwell” this was an example of People Power, this was an example of Student Power!

In three (3) days of Protest, UWI Students Guild managed to change UWI forever……..

The UWI thus realized that to avoid the repeat of such an incident which was seen around the world they need to give more financial support to Students to avoid such an occurrence in the future. Such financial support is necessary especially during the Senior Year, when many are considering graduating and not returning to do the Masters Program at UWI, a second cash cow for the UWI that is slowly being taken away by competing Colleges and Universities.

So the offer of training and learning a Job skill as a CSA is really a plus for all UWI students and serves to attract the High School Leavers to go to UWI. Working in a Call Center also provides a means for Post-Graduate Students to support themselves while doing their Masters or PhD and is more lucrative than working as a low-pay TA (Teaching Assistant).

And for the record this venture by the UWI is not unique; it’s a practice I’ve seen among UWI and UTECH Students who work part-time at ACS-Xerox, Fullgram Solutions and now ACCENT Marketing Jamaica Limited while going to College. Also in most of these Call Centers, the CSA’s and TES share the various Call Queues around the world with mostly High School and College Students in the various countries that these Call Centers operate.

A truly Global Village!!

Best of all, if you have the experience of working in a Call Center while still a Student at UWI, you can use that Customer Care experience to get a job in the rapidly expanding Empire that is Call Centers as noted in my blog article entitled “Convergys and Aegis Communications Call Centers Coming – FDI powered Call Center Renaissance in Jamaica thanks to our Good English” and “Digicel cuts 120 Call Center Jobs - Fullgram Solutions to benefit as Antonio Graham speaks of an AEPP future by the Ocean”.

Albeit the salary is a lot less than JA$100,000 per month (UWI Student’s dream salary!!) it is still good enough to get your parents and Student’s Loan off your back. Even better, if you still live at home with your parents, you can start the process of paying off your Student’s Loan. Just keep it in mind that you can’t live an overly extravagant lifestyle for at least a year!

If you scoff at the prospect of working only JA$40000 per month, here are a few things for a  UWI or UTECH Student to consider: The US Recession in 2008AD which indirectly affects the Jamaica Economy may be followed by a Fourth Recession as stated in my blog article entitled “EU, USA and the Second Recession - Economist Dennis Chung's Andromeda and The Long Night”. You don’t need to tell UWI Students all this: they already are experiencing it on campus, which albeit in a bubble is nonetheless a mini-Jamaican Economy.

Already the PIOJ (Planning Institute Organization of Jamaica) is signaling that we may indeed be headed towards a Fourth Global Recession as stated in “PIOJ offers tentative economic forecast ... After getting March quarter estimate wrong” Published Wednesday August 22, 2012 by Steven Jackson, The Jamaica Gleaner and “Europe on the edge of recession” Published Wednesday August 15, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.

This is not even mentioning Peak Oil which is scheduled to occur in 2015AD as stated in my blog article entitled “Alternative Energy and the Caribbean - Peak Oil in 2015 and The Day After Tomorrow”.

The strong possibility of a Third Recession is still looming on the horizon. If the EU (European Union) does not get its act together despite a Debt Deal being reached in the Fourth Quarter of 2012AD to bail out Greece and by extension the EU as stated in my blog article entitled “EU Debt Deal Reached on Wednesday October 27 2011 - Austerity measures for sustained Recovery”.

Worse if  The People’s Republic of China experiences a Real Estate Crisis to trigger off a Fourth Recession as prognosticated by London based journalist Gwynne Dyer article “Brace for China's impending crash” Published Sunday March 18, 2012, The Jamaica Gleaner.

Thus those seeking higher education at UWI have to adjust their outlooks for a Long Night without favorable employment. By “Favorable employment” I’m referring to being employed directly via interview (no fren-fren ting, rasta!) and being paid what you want for your qualifications (read JA$100,000 and up!). But alas, this is not the reality, as many UWI graduates find themselves in the same boat as High School leavers and those of us who have lost their jobs in the 9-5 Work World.

Thus, whether they accept it or not, until the GOJ manages to turn the Jamaican Economy around by 2015AD, as a UWI Graduate, your first job may be working in a Call Center! So get used to it from now, as other Colleges may begin to make Partnerships with Sutherland Global Services to host their Accounts on their Campuses as a means of making extra revenue and assisting Students with affording their tuition.

Certainly, the GOJ by now must realize that it cannot be the case that we as a country only start working at 10am in the morning when so many productive hours around the clock lie idle waiting to be filled with employees working. Meanwhile  our American counterparts get lazier and lazier and thus demand more Call Center Services powered by Natural English speakers as stated in my blog article entitled “Data Outsourcing comes to Jamaica via MobileWorks and Freelancer.com - Flexi-Work propelled by Crowsourcing and MicroWorking Anaconda”, thus beckoning Jamaicans to work and fill these unproductive hours.

Thus albeit this is the UWI moving to meet Student’s half-way in terms of tuition, it’s also a wakeup Call for the GOJ to implement Flex-work and Tele-Working Legislation to get idle skilled and the educated unemployed working again until the Jamaican Economy rebounds.

In addition, the higher level education of UWI and College Students in general makes them great Foot soldiers. Necessary skills on the pitched and sometimes expletive (from the customer, not CSA or TES!!) laden frontline battles between CSA’s and TES vs the Customer as Call Centers experience their “Age of Empire” driven by American and European Laziness when it comes to reading manuals.

Great preparation for UWI Students for the Six Degrees of Hell (2012) in the Working World when they decided to eventually leave the Flexi-work and Tele-working World to go back into the 9-5 drudgery of the formal Brick-and-mortar Workplace as noted in my Geezam blog article entitled “Jamaica’s 100MBps Internet Silver Lining – Tele-commuting Workplace is coming”….that is, if the GOJ has its way against the Church and 9-5 work somehow still exists in the future!