I'm calling from Brisbane...Oh yeah!

from w
What do you think of Call Centres? Especially those calls you get at 6 p.m. in the evening when you are cooking dinner!
'Hello Mrs Wendy... This is Helen from Brisbane and this is an offer for your telephone...'
I recognize the accent with strong consonant attack.
'Oh bhaini, kaisay hai! Bahut dhanyabad, but what is your real name?'
'It's Shanti.'
'Oh you are in Mumbai or...'
'No, no. I am calling frm Brisbane and this is an offer for your telephone...'
And on it goes, day after day.
So, now they want Call Centres from Fiji. Oh dear.
'Hello. This is Bob from Sydney and I'm calling about your telephone. How much do you pay for your current service...'
I recognize the accent with the strong 'b'.
'Bula vinaka Bob if that's your real name! You're not really from Sydney are you? And is it your business to ask my personal details?'
etc. etc.

One question I have in the current situation about people and jobs is to ask:
Does my job really contribute to society? There's so much talk about the need for employment and jobs, but we also have to ask what kind of jobs really are needed and do they really benefit the place where we live.....

Here's the relevant news item from today's Fiji Sun.

3,000 more jobs
The reformation of an existing factory in the Kalabu Tax Free Zone into a call centre will be creating 3,000 jobs, early next year. Speaking at the signing of the Builders and Consultant contract, Fiji Islands Trade and Investment Bureau chairman Francis Narayan said Mindpearl, a global provider of outsourced customer contact solutions would be commencing operations in Fiji from September 1.

"The KTFZ's Factory Seven which was previously occupied by Digicel is currently being refurbished by J S Hill," said Mr Narayan.

"The factory will be refurbished into a state of the art call centre providing employment to more than 3,000 people in the country.

"The company will be recruiting 1,000 people this year who will be trained and will be starting work in January, next year.

"The job will mostly benefit young people especially school leavers who will be earning an average of $12 to $15,000 per year," he said.

Mr Narayan said the project cost was estimated at around $45million with less than five expatriates employed to work during the construction of the building.

He that they are currently identifying a piece of land in Lautoka and are looking for sponsors to build another call centre in the West.

Mr Narayan said talks are in progress for another 3,000 jobs to be created by 2011 and 2012.