I may be the only one really struggling with the call volume (I suspect I am not), but there is no question that the call volume is higher.
Rather, I should specify that there is a combination of more calls coming in and fewer people to answer those calls. The increase is in both total call volume and the quantity of calls fielded by individual agents as our number decreases.
I was in a situation once (not a call center), where there was a lot of attrition, but due to automation and other factors, it did not increase the work load for anyone. That is not happening here.
I was on the team that helped determine the requirements for the automation process. As the volume kept declining and I got laid off, I could "joke" that I efficiently put myself out of a job.
I would love to have some ideas for how to do that now.
There are a few factors driving the increase in total calls, but focusing first on the diminished work force, I think we have to look at COVID.
The obvious beginning is looking at deaths during the pandemic, and how that reduced the workforce. There are people who will tell you that it was only the elderly, and that they weren't working. Not only is that not true, but it also overlooks how some of those elderly may have been childcare providers, either for family members or in other settings.
Child care is a serious factor in the ability of parents to work.
It may be less obvious but still in mind to consider those who have long COVID symptoms. Some of the people entering and exiting the work force may be exiting because they find that they cannot keep up.
I have thought of that, but a recent thread that I read got me thinking more about people working through those symptoms. I am angry at myself for not bookmarking this thread, because I can't find it now. However, it pointed out that on any given day, there will probably be some people out sick, but also some people working through brain fog.
A lot of the volume that I deal with comes from human error.
It's not always on our side; I may be talking to someone who has incomplete notes from a coworker, or they took down incorrect information.
Sometimes, though, someone is calling back, and as I check the details from previous calls I will notice something that was not previously noticed that is pertinent and wholly changes what needs to be done.
That is not necessarily due to brain fog either. We have a lot of newer people. I am unusually good in general about sussing out details and spotting inconsistencies, but I am better at it after a few months of looking at things. Medical claims are complex. If I spot something that someone much newer on the phones missed, that is not surprising. Even knowing where to look to see what you might miss takes time.
It's harder if they are dealing with brain fog, and if the reason they are newer is because we lost someone else to brain fog (or death), it becomes more of a web than a cycle.
Webs are sticky.
That is not even taking into account the one relatively good result of the pandemic, in that employee shortages have increased wages. If someone finds that they can't do this job, the odds of them finding something else they can live on have increased.
(Bank of America and former Treasury Secretary Lawrence Summers have some thoughts about this, as do I, but not right now.)
As it is, I am receiving more calls lately from people just checking to make sure certain faxes have been received. For this particular process, the total review is two weeks, so they know that won't have happened yet, but they don't trust it to have gotten in at all. There is a lack of confidence, whether it is on their side, ours, or the reliability of faxing.
We can keep hiring people away from other jobs, and we can keep losing people to still other jobs, but is this effective? Is it productive? Is it good?
And is it all related to another problem entirely?
Related links:
https://theintercept.com/2022/07/29/bank-of-america-worker-conditions-worse/
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