Archive for Volt

Volt Wants Microsoft Temps To Take 10% Pay Cut…. And They Want Temps To “Vote” On It

Posted in Commentary with tags , on March 2, 2009 by itnerd

You’ll recall that I’ve written about Volt in the past and they were none too pleased about the fact that I pointed out how much their Apple tech support people make. I’ve also written about why the fact that they pay so little is a bad thing. So when I read the news that Volt wants its temps that work for Microsoft to take a 10% pay cut , it got my attention:

We have evaluated all pay rates for our Microsoft agency temporary workers and have concluded that we will be asking each of you to share in these measures by accepting a 10% reduction in your pay rate. These reductions are very difficult for Volt to implement since we value each and every one of you; however this is mandatory in order to continue your assignment at Microsoft and to respond to this economic environment.

But it actually gets better.

We want to support you in continuing your assignment at Microsoft and respectfully ask that you respond by going to the upper left hand corner of this email under the ?Vote? response option and select, ?Accept? by close of business Tuesday, March 3, 2009. By accepting you agree to the pay adjustment in your pay rate. Volt has prepared a formal written amendment to your employment agreement for your signature and will execute this amendment in your scheduled meeting.

Okay, so what happens if you don’t agree? Do you get terminated? My gut says that this vote is mere formality. If you don’t take the cut you may as well pack-up your desk and take a long, unpaid “vacation.” And what happens if the economy improves? Do you get that 10% back? The e-mail doesn’t say, but I’m guessing that the answer is no. Oh yeah, Volt also sent this on a Friday evening. Smooth. That’s a very classy thing to do.

The thing I find interesting is that Microsoft isn’t bleeding cash like a lot of other companies. They just made less money than they were expecting to.  So one has to wonder if this is simply a move to keep profit margins high.

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An Open Letter To Volt

Posted in Commentary with tags , on August 25, 2008 by itnerd

Thanks to the people from Volt for posting to my blog. Seeing as two of you replied to my original posting, I must have struck a nerve.

Just so you know, I have managed call centers on both the $12/hr end of the spectrum, and the $50K – $60K end of the spectrum. So I have an idea of how these places work. Here’s a few facts: When I managed call centers at the $12/hr end of the spectrum, I could not keep the best staff that I had as people at the other end of the spectrum kept poaching them. When I managed call centers at the $50K – $60K end of the spectrum, I found it all to easy to steal those people at the $12/hr end of the spectrum.

Why? I put it down to this:

1. Many of these “entry level” positions don’t have benefits.

2. The hours are long (sometimes as long as 12 hours a day).

3. The employees that I have stolen from call centers that pay these low wages report that they aren’t treated well by the employers.

4. There’s more of a value placed on getting people on and off phones rather than actually solving the customers issues (likely because the more calls that are handled, the better these call centers are paid). This frustrates the best and the brightest that exist in these environments and make them seek employment elsewhere.

The fact is that I believe that to have excellent customer service, you have to find the best and the brightest people. That doesn’t mean that you are looking for the guys with MCSE, CNA, A+ and other certifications. It means that you are looking for smart people who are willing to work hard and learn. In other words, I look for the same people you are looking for.

Here’s the difference. I believe that you need to build a coherent team that are willing to go to the wall for whomever they work for and provide exceptional customer service. The only way that I can see to do that is to pay these people wage that they can live on, have them work 8 hours a day and five days a week, give them decent benefits, and treat them with respect. When I do that, I retain staff and I’m able to gain the best and brightest from places that pay $12/hr. When I am not able to do that (because I’m paying someone $12/hr or something like that), I lose my best staff to people who pay more.

By the way, I have hired entry level people and trained them to do whatever I needed. Plus, I worked their schedules into the call center schedule so that everybody wins.

But let’s get to the central issue: Can you find a person to do tech support for $12/hr?

Sure you can.

But I believe you can get a better employee if you pay more. I believe you get a hard working and loyal employee if you pay more. I believe that you get a employee that remains committed to your company and provides excellent customer service if you pay more.

At the end of the day, it’s about hiring the best staff to provide the best customer service possible. So, while you can hire people to do tech support at $12/hr, I don’t believe that you can hire the people who can take your customer service to the next level for $12/hr.

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How Much Do Canadian Telephone Support Techs Who Support Apple Products Make? Apparently $12/hr CDN

Posted in Commentary with tags , , on August 25, 2008 by itnerd

I spotted this posting on Craigslist last week looking for “Technical Support Agents to Support Apple Products.” So just for giggles, I decided to respond to it. The posting was made by Volt Technical Resources who does tech support outsourcing among other things. In any case, I got this reply back within 24 hours:

Hello,

This position is paying $12/hr. Will this been within your price range?

Thanks!

<NAME REDACTED>

Technical Recruiter

Volt Technical Resources | <ADDRESS REDACTED> | <CITY REDACTED>

<EMAIL REDACTED> | t: <REDACTED> | f: <REDACTED>

“Recognized by FORTUNE Magazine as One of America’s Most Admired Companies”

$12 an hour????

If that’s what their phone support techs make, then that’s insane. The problem with what they are paying is that they seriously can’t expect to get anybody good for that price. All you’re going to get is some droid who will read from a script to try and solve your problem. One would think that they’d pay more to find more skilled techs so that they can get the best customer experiences possible.

I’m assuming that this is for Apple as they likely want to keep their costs down by outsourcing their tech support. That’s just a guess on my part, but I’m likely right. At the moment Apple is at the top of the food chain in terms of customer satisfaction. So perhaps the plan is that they hire staff at low prices, train them so that they all sing from the same song sheet, and hope the good ones stick around while culling the weak ones. That of course assumes that this ad was placed for them (even if it’s not, the same logic applies).

Great plan if that’s the case, but here’s where it falls apart:

  1. The good people at tech support call centers like this one are the sort of targets that get stolen to staff call centers that pay better than what these guys do. After all, if you only pay somebody $25K a year, it makes them really easy to steal without breaking the bank.
  2. Assuming they don’t get stolen, the good people at tech support call centers like this one often figure out how good they are and go hunting for better paying gigs a few months in.
  3. The ones who are left are pretty useless and will drive you insane. That’s not a surprise because when you pay people peanuts, you get monkeys.

Here’s a hint to anybody who runs a tech support call center: Find the best people possible and pay them a decent wage (hint: $12/hr isn’t a decent wage). That way you get great customer service and employee loyalty. A classic “win-win.”

Otherwise, you deserve whatever you get.

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