Call Centers Return to US Homes

Remember those call center jobs that corporate America outsourced to the Philippines and India a few years ago? Well, they’re baaaack!

For years, Americans have had their phone calls about credit card bills and broken cell phones handled by people in the Philippines or India. But American firms are starting to bring call centers back to the U.S. — and this time around, they are hiring more people to work in their own homes.

Ten years ago, it made a lot of sense to outsource these jobs overseas. But that’s changing. Increasingly, companies that want to outsource their customer service jobs are happy with these domestic arrangements.

High inflation and double-digit annual raises in some sectors are pushing up the cost of labor in India. At the same time wages in the U.S. are falling and companies are rethinking the trade-offs associated with outsourcing.

Carolyn Beeler of NPR’s All Thing considered calls this one in: Link

Previously on Neatorama: Chinese Companies are Finding US to be a Bargain!