QF Hobart call centre forthcoming redundancies

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Melburnian1

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'Hobart Mercury' has a paywalled story on the evening of Tuesday 26 March 2019 suggesting that QF call centre staff in Hobart will soon be offered redundancies.

If I recall, some years ago QF closed centres in Camberwell (Melbourne) and another elsewhere and shifted staff (or employed new staff) down in Hobart.

AFF members have previously discussed at length the performance of call centres such as typical waiting time and how efficient (and knowledgeable) staff were.

If anyone subscribes online to News Ltd papers and can provide a working link that would be great.
 
It's a sad fact that Australian call centres have not been competitive for some time, and should a large company retain one, they are almost always doing so for the marketing advantage it provides, and almost never doing so exclusively.
 
It's a sad fact that Australian call centres have not been competitive for some time, and should a large company retain one, they are almost always doing so for the marketing advantage it provides, and almost never doing so exclusively.

Is it transferring jobs to Manila/Cebu, or simply reducing the number of positions because the number of inbound telephone calls has declined?

I don't have a problem with Filipino call centre staff: generally they are very good, and never nasty like Australians answering such calls can be on occasion. Agree our call centres are uncompetitive but not just on price, although NAB call centres locally are an exception as the staff provide quality service in my experience.

Economies should stick at what they're good at or find new activities at which to excel.
 
THE jobs of more than 200 Qantas call centre staff are under a cloud after the company said it would offer an unspecified number of voluntary redundancies.

The union representing workers at the Glenorchy call centre says Qantas has not committed to remaining in the state beyond 2024 and the jobs could end up going overseas.

Qantas yesterday confirmed it was reviewing operations in Tasmania because of changing customer behaviour but said it was staying for the long term.

The future of the call centre was secured with a government handout in 2014 — believed to be around $8 million.

QANTAS CALL CENTRE TO STAY IN HOBART

Australian Services Union organiser Aaron De La Torre said staff numbers had fallen from a high of 540 staff to just over 200.

“It’s very early at this stage. The union has met with management twice now to discuss the potential for redundancies,” he said.

“It looks like there will be some voluntary redundancies offered, but there’s not information on how many will be offered or what they’re trying to achieve.

“They have told us they’re committed to being a call centre for premium customers until 2024.”

Mr De La Torre said there was plenty of work for the Hobart staff to do — but the company had in the past outsourced operations to Cape Town, Auckland and Manila where wages are lower.

“They have unlimited overtime at the moment, they have long waits for the calls coming in so we don’t understand why redundancies are being offered,” he said.

The union and the company are expected to meet next week to discuss the number and timing of job losses.

A Qantas spokesman confirmed the call centre’s future was under review.

“We’ve seen many customers move away from voice calls to other channels such as social media, text message and web chat to have their queries answered which has given us an opportunity to look at the operations of the Hobart call centre,” he said.

“We’ve let our staff know that there may be an opportunity to apply for a voluntary redundancy if they choose.

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“There is absolutely no intention for any compulsory redundancies and Qantas remains committed to its premium call centre in Hobart for the long term.”

During the 2013 federal election, Vodafone was granted $4 million to maintain 700 jobs at the call centre. The State Government contributed $850,000 to provide the company with payroll tax relief.

State Growth Minister Peter Gutwein said the Government was “disappointed in any potential reduction in staff”.

There are about 200 jobs remaining at the call centre.
 
Qantas reveals call centre jobs woe as voluntary redundancies loom
PENNY MCLEOD, Mercury
March 26, 2019 8:44pm
Subscriber only
QANTAS is expected to offer 20 to 30 voluntary redundancies to workers at its Hobart call centre within coming weeks.

Independent MP Andrew Wilkie said the company had assured him that there would be no involuntary redundancies.

“I pressed them, I said ‘What if you don’t have 30 people put their hand up?’ and they’ve assured me that there won’t be involuntary redundancies, but we will have to wait and see,” he said.

“Any involuntary redundancies here would be a terrible move by Qantas.”

Staff numbers at the Glenorchy call centre, which has been operating for close to 20 years, have fallen from a high of 540 staff to 221. It is Qantas’ only Australian call centre.

In recent years, the airline has outsourced operations to Cape Town, Auckland and Manila where wages are lower.

UNCERTAINTY SURROUNDS QANTAS CALL CENTRE JOBS

The union representing staff at the centre expects more than 30 workers will put their hand up for a redundancy when the offer comes through.

“A lot of people are ready to move on,” Australian Services Union organiser Aaron De La Torre said.

“Staff are looking for a change or retiring. A lot of staff have been there a long time, the majority well over 10 years.

“There are some genuine issues with management processes. The call volumes are really high and there’s a lot of overtime on offer — they are overworked. Our concern is there are still jobs there for people who want to stay.”

The call centre staff deal primarily with the airline’s platinum members, as well as complaints and lost baggage inquiries.

Its future was thought to be secured with around $8 million in government funding in 2014.

A Qantas spokesman said the airline remains committed to the Hobart call centre “for the long haul”. “We expect about 30 people to express an interest in taking a voluntary redundancy,” he said.

The spokesman said many customers had moved away from voice calls to other channels such as social media, text message and web chat to have their queries answered.

“Why can’t our guys do that [social media] work?” Mr De La Torre said. “All of the social media, web chat work, it’s all being done offshore.”

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Mr Wilkie said the reduction in the workforce would hurt the local community.

“That’s 30 pay packets. The impact of [losing] 30 reasonably well paid jobs on the economy is significant,” he said.

The union will meet to consult further with Qantas on April 4.
 
I have to disagree pretty vehemently on the subject of filipino call centres. I have spent a lot of time working with filipinos in BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) roles, and whilst they are genuinely lovely people, they come from a society where process is used as a tool to allow people to dole out preferential treatment to those who are friends, family or otherwise in favour.

This tends to shine through when combined with BPO approaches where overseas call centres are completely untrusted and very rarely given the tools or access needed to get anything done. The result is a maddening loop of process for process's sake and no ability to identify a situation that should not occur and proactively work to resolve it, the entire reason we call these things.

Head over to the credit card discussions if you want to see the best of what BPO has to offer. I am 100% behind you when it comes to the friendliness and manners of filipinos in general and the reason they are often in service roles, but as soon as you mix that with a call centre environment it's a bunch of platitudes and an inability to help in any meaningful way other than to ask that sir, I will need you to provide form a12 in triplicate before I can activate your service.
 
After 30 odd years in Australia, having been born overseas, I would certainly have preferred to speak to someone in Australia, who know the nuances and the way Aussies speak English, accents etc.
While I haven't had to call the QFF/QF/Qhotels call centre a lot, but having to a call centre where I don't have to repeat myself over and over, or to reword, is a good thing.
Pity that QF have decided to offshore even more QF non core activities.
Like having to speak slowly, and use very basic English to get what we want done.
Takes so long.
Had to call JQd (overseas, Php) call centre after my JQ flight got cancelled, to find out what can be done in Dec 2015 was a pain in the bum.
 
After 30 odd years in Australia, having been born overseas, I would certainly have preferred to speak to someone in Australia, who know the nuances and the way Aussies speak English, accents etc.
While I haven't had to call the QFF/QF/Qhotels call centre a lot, but having to a call centre where I don't have to repeat myself over and over, or to reword, is a good thing.
Pity that QF have decided to offshore even more QF non core activities.
Like having to speak slowly, and use very basic English to get what we want done.
Takes so long.
Had to call JQd (overseas, Php) call centre after my JQ flight got cancelled, to find out what can be done in Dec 2015 was a pain in the bum.

You may be referring to other nationalities, but most young Filipinos can easily understand Australians once they've become used to our accents, and been given examples of idiosyncratic expressions that we use. There's some Australians in local call centres who don't comprehend if we use more complex words.

Occasionally it may be that the line is bad: for instance, calling from mobiles. Our telecommunications in Oz is hardly world best practice.

If a call 'takes too long' then that's at least partly the fault of the airline or other company through not developing ways to speed up processes.

Last week I booked VA reward flights on partner airlines through the Velocity call centre in Metro Manila. The girl was very efficient. The transaction was handled promptly. She pretty much immediately found the flights I wanted. The confirmatory email came through within a minute of me hanging up.

The only nationality I've experienced problems with in these calls is some Indians, which is counter intuitive, because one might consider that due to the British heritage, they'd be easy to communicate with over the phone. Not always so.

Maybe part of the equation is that some of us "want" the call to be difficult to satisfy a stereotype.
 
Is it transferring jobs to Manila/Cebu, or simply reducing the number of positions because the number of inbound telephone calls has declined?

The spokesman said many customers had moved away from voice calls to other channels such as social media, text message and web chat to have their queries answered.

I think the second quote does it - the SMS etc has done exactly what it was designed to do - get rid of (relatively) expensive Australian call centre staff. Terrible way to go.
 
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[moderation hat]
I have removed some off topic posts.

Please stick to the topic of call centre redundancies.​
[/moderation hat]
 
Too bad the redundancies are voluntary. Higher odds of good staff leaving and the lazy unknowledgeable ones hanging around.
 
I have to disagree pretty vehemently on the subject of filipino call centres.......as soon as you mix that with a call centre environment it's a bunch of platitudes and an inability to help in any meaningful way other than to ask that sir, I will need you to provide form a12 in triplicate before I can activate your service.

Agree 100%

I will not want to be put through to a Filipino call centre when I have some complex routings that need to be booked or I am stuck in JFK during a blizzard and need to get put on alternate flights ASAP.

I love the anonymous QF quote "our customers behaviours are changing" yes because you are almost forcing people to use text chat every bloody time I call!
 
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