Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centers

Call centers have become a near-ubiquitous site of employment in our late capitalist world, with over a million people working there in the United Kingdom alone. The call center has become synonymous with low-paid, high-stress work under dictatorial supervision and precarious contracts. With Working the Phones, Jamie Woodcock draws on time spent employed in a non-unionized call center to take the public beyond anecdotal impressions to a true picture of what work is like there. Focusing in particular on methods of control and resistance within the highly regulated environment, Woodcock shows how call centers have become sadly emblematic of the post-industrial service economy.

About the Author:

Jamie Woodcock is a research fellow at Cass Business School, working with the Digital Creativity Hub.