| The growing availability of homeshoring jobs is an | | | | difficulty in understanding what they were saying. |
| outward sign of a mini "industrial revolution" which | | | | Simple queries were frustrating enough but, |
| is taking place in the customer service industry of | | | | people seeking specialised advice, (eg things such |
| the United States and Canada. | | | | as technical help with a computer issue) were |
| Homeshoring companies are looking for people to | | | | outraged at the level of assistance the companies |
| fill home based customer service agent positions | | | | in question were providing. |
| all over the USA and Canada. Being able to find | | | | Of course, dissatisfied customers did not return |
| home-based employment will help many people | | | | to companies where they had experienced such |
| caught in the poverty trap of low/fixed incomes | | | | low levels of customer service, and the |
| because of difficult circumstances. These people | | | | companies' profits showed something was |
| include many stay-at-home parents who can't go | | | | seriously wrong. Shareholders in the companies |
| out to work because the cost of childcare is | | | | were not at all happy, so something had to be |
| prohibitive. Work at home jobs will also help | | | | done to achieve improved levels of customer |
| disabled persons, students and senior citizens who | | | | satisfaction. |
| need extra income to eke out their pensions. | | | | Homeshoring Virtual Careers |
| What Is Homeshoring? | | | | Customers scored a resounding victory over the |
| Homeshoring describes the practice of using | | | | industries with poor customer service records, but |
| home-based telecommuting staff to handle call | | | | companies did not want to go back to the former |
| center work. Jobs which were previously | | | | system of staffing call centers. After all, the |
| outsourced to overseas centers and filled by | | | | outsourcing experiment started partly because of |
| foreign workers are now being kept onshore. | | | | the high overheads involved in employing staff to |
| Outsourcing was a huge trend in the 1990's | | | | work in physical call centers. Fortunately (for |
| because foreign labour was much cheaper and | | | | people who want to work at home as well as for |
| companies could also save a lot of money on | | | | the companies who want to save money) the |
| overheads incurred in buying and maintaining | | | | Internet offers a solution in the form of virtual |
| buildings to accommodate staff. Customer service | | | | assistance work at home. |
| workers in the United States were hit hard by | | | | Instead of companies having actual call centers, |
| job losses, but the balance has altered and | | | | people who want to work at home set up their |
| home-based customer service agents are once | | | | own "virtual call centers" in their home and offer |
| again needed. | | | | their services for virtual assistance jobs. The only |
| Homeshoring and Customer Satisfaction | | | | equipment needed to set up a basic home call |
| Homeshoring is a great example of how | | | | center is a dedicated phone line and a personal |
| customer opinion can make a dramatic change to | | | | computer with high speed Internet connection. |
| the way big businesses work. Customers got | | | | This mini industrial revolution is quietly changing the |
| totally fed up with being forced to deal with | | | | lives of many people who are finding employment |
| agents at foreign call centers because of the | | | | at home through homeshoring companies. |