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Should I start job hunting for a new job? Details inside
#1
Rubicon
Rubicon
tl;dr mah job my be in jeopardy noooez
So about a month or so ago give or take a week, 50 people in the technical support department at my office got a bit of a promotion, let me explain;
There are about 5 or 6 call centers that handle calls for my company, 1 in canadian, 3 in america and a couple overseas. Well my call center was doing so well in customer satisfaction and statistics we were given the chance to expand our workforce. We opened a customer service slash tech support department, mainly for brand new customers who need help with billing, first time installations, etc. It was kinda cool, we were given much more control over stuff, the ability to give credit to a customers account, interact with a phone number a customer is transfering if there were any issues, etc.
Now, my company handled this piss poor. Why?
Mis-management, I think.
At the time there were around 210 tech support agents, and they moved the 50 top agents into the new customer care department, I was one of those 50. The 50 had the best statistics, best customer satisfaction, best issue resolutions, etc. So that dropped tech supports department 50 in number BUT we were also rewarded with expanding tech support further, so they hired around 80 people for technical support in like a 2 month period of time. Instead of 7 weeks of training like I had, they gave them 4. So now tech support was actually gaining 30+ people if you subtract the 50 they lost.
Cut to two weeks later after the 50 have started in customer service, well technical supports statistics dropped like a rock. A combination of losing the 50 best tech support agents and almost half of the current ones being brand new people, they're stats were atrocious. Now I dont blame the new people or the existing people, it takes time to learn the tricks of the trade for the company, how to handle issue X,Y,Z etc. For a while there we were getting daily emails from our office manager asking tech support why the stats were so low, did they (tech support) want to lose their jobs etc cause frankly, their stats were so low the call centers in INDIA were doing better...
Anyways, the meat of the store is December and now they are forcing VTO on people. Volunteered Time Off. Basically, we get the go ahead from the companies we work for (I myself work for Vonage) to have X number of agents taking phone calls at any given day. Combined with the fact with have around 300 agents now in total, and the low tech support stats, Vonage has been reducing the available hours. Yep, less work.
In the last two weeks thus far, I've worked like 4 days. Now I did have PTO available to cover those days, so I at least get paid but my PTO is running out. VTO doesnt count against you in anyway BUT its unpaid time off. And while out of the 50 people in customer care, I'm usually within the top 15 agents, and have 6 months tenure over some new people (the turn over rate is pretty high), I need the money. I'm missing over 6 hours of paid time this week for VTO, no telling for next week or the next. Supposedly this is just for December until they balance out the stuff etc but...I'm afraid they wont be able to keep 300 people. They've basically over hired and put too many eggs in one basket.
So, should I start looking for another job? I've only had this one 6 months. I do actually LOVE this job, this is exactly the type of job I want, I can sit on my ass all day, most days it's not too busy in call volume, I can browse the internet, read comics etc to pass the time, and still make a decent paycheck (around $350 a week after taxes).
tl;dr job may be in risk, what shall i do
So about a month or so ago give or take a week, 50 people in the technical support department at my office got a bit of a promotion, let me explain;
There are about 5 or 6 call centers that handle calls for my company, 1 in canadian, 3 in america and a couple overseas. Well my call center was doing so well in customer satisfaction and statistics we were given the chance to expand our workforce. We opened a customer service slash tech support department, mainly for brand new customers who need help with billing, first time installations, etc. It was kinda cool, we were given much more control over stuff, the ability to give credit to a customers account, interact with a phone number a customer is transfering if there were any issues, etc.
Now, my company handled this piss poor. Why?
Mis-management, I think.
At the time there were around 210 tech support agents, and they moved the 50 top agents into the new customer care department, I was one of those 50. The 50 had the best statistics, best customer satisfaction, best issue resolutions, etc. So that dropped tech supports department 50 in number BUT we were also rewarded with expanding tech support further, so they hired around 80 people for technical support in like a 2 month period of time. Instead of 7 weeks of training like I had, they gave them 4. So now tech support was actually gaining 30+ people if you subtract the 50 they lost.
Cut to two weeks later after the 50 have started in customer service, well technical supports statistics dropped like a rock. A combination of losing the 50 best tech support agents and almost half of the current ones being brand new people, they're stats were atrocious. Now I dont blame the new people or the existing people, it takes time to learn the tricks of the trade for the company, how to handle issue X,Y,Z etc. For a while there we were getting daily emails from our office manager asking tech support why the stats were so low, did they (tech support) want to lose their jobs etc cause frankly, their stats were so low the call centers in INDIA were doing better...
Anyways, the meat of the store is December and now they are forcing VTO on people. Volunteered Time Off. Basically, we get the go ahead from the companies we work for (I myself work for Vonage) to have X number of agents taking phone calls at any given day. Combined with the fact with have around 300 agents now in total, and the low tech support stats, Vonage has been reducing the available hours. Yep, less work.
In the last two weeks thus far, I've worked like 4 days. Now I did have PTO available to cover those days, so I at least get paid but my PTO is running out. VTO doesnt count against you in anyway BUT its unpaid time off. And while out of the 50 people in customer care, I'm usually within the top 15 agents, and have 6 months tenure over some new people (the turn over rate is pretty high), I need the money. I'm missing over 6 hours of paid time this week for VTO, no telling for next week or the next. Supposedly this is just for December until they balance out the stuff etc but...I'm afraid they wont be able to keep 300 people. They've basically over hired and put too many eggs in one basket.
So, should I start looking for another job? I've only had this one 6 months. I do actually LOVE this job, this is exactly the type of job I want, I can sit on my ass all day, most days it's not too busy in call volume, I can browse the internet, read comics etc to pass the time, and still make a decent paycheck (around $350 a week after taxes).
tl;dr job may be in risk, what shall i do
#2
Dave
Dave
YES! Do it now. They sound like they are cutting back. One thing that is happening is that they are trying to force people to choose. Do I stay or do I go? The best people will jump ship ASAP as the jobs will be there for them. If you wait and they shitcan the whole thing there will be a truckload of people in the market with the same skillset as you, making looking that much more difficult.
Do it now and be ahead of the curve!
Do it now and be ahead of the curve!
#3
Hylian
Hylian
I would be on the look out for a job that way if they do layoff people you won't be in a panicked rush to find just any job and if they don;t layoff than no harm done.
#4
Chazwozel
Chazwozel
DO IT! I know I damn well should of a month before I got shit-canned. I thought because I was a manager/scientist that I'd be safe from that sort of cost cutting. Boy, was I wrong.
#5
Chibibar
Chibibar
IT support are usually the "first" to go (not sure why) but I highly recommend that you start looking. Shop around. There is a lot of competition as it is now, you don't need more if your whole department gets canned (it is possible if off shore is doing better and CHEAPER)
#6
Covar
Covar
Good rule of thumb, if you're not sure if you need to start looking for a job you do.
Best of luck.
Best of luck.
#7
SpecialKO
SpecialKO
Definitely start now. Be careful (don't do it at work, don't let anyone contact your current employer), but put in an hour or two of job searching every day when you get home.