90 Gender Matters
et al. (2007) also remarked:
For CC agents, work is done mostly at night. Compensation
is generally twice or even thrice the statutory minimum wage,
with outstanding cyber tele-marketers earning 4-5 times
more. With so much disposable income, CC/BPO dress up,
smoke, drink and behave outside their offices like yuppies on
the move. Some even speak non-stop English in public. The
CC/BPO employees appear like a separate or a distinct class
unto themselves (Ofreneo et al. 2007, 539).
All these changes potentially challenge gender identities and
gender roles.
All in all, majority of the available literature on the effects
of BPO or call center work on women do not elaborate on the
effects or gendered impact of call center work on women and the
implications of such work on gender relations and gender division
of labor. There are studies, however, which point out that women
are particularly affected by conflicts between working hours and
the demands of task performance, and domestic, family and social
responsibilities and expectations. To date, there have been no indepth studies conducted about the effects of call center jobs on the
gender relations and gender division of household labor.
A more exhaustive research that includes the experiences of
women in the domestic sphere, in relation to their call center jobs,
can enrich the literature on the impact of call centers on women.
Recommendations
Conflicts between working hours and domestic, family
and social responsibilities and expectations, are among the cited
difficulties that women call center workers face. As related by
Asuncion (2008) married women usually resign from their company
after reporting for work for a few weeks due to the demands of work
at home and in the company. Government policies on workers’ rights
and welfare should therefore give enough emphasis on the workers’
work-life family balance, exploring ways to address the limited
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