The four-minute call: burnout in a support centre

The case (fictional)

A telecom company runs a 120-agent customer support centre in Manila, working night shifts for customers in North America. Agents handle billing complaints. Annual staff turnover is about 60 per cent, and sick leave has risen sharply.

Last year the target for average call length was cut from six minutes to four. Calls are monitored and scripts are strictly enforced. Agents cannot approve refunds above a small amount and must transfer those calls, so many customers are already angry when they reach them. Breaks are scheduled by the system, and toilet breaks count against agents' "available time". Each team leader supervises 25 agents and spends most of the day producing reports.

A staff survey shows high exhaustion, growing cynicism ("customers are idiots") and a feeling of achieving nothing. Management plans a "wellness week" with yoga and a resilience webinar.

Agents speak warmly of their colleagues and of the free night-shift shuttle bus. One team, whose leader holds a ten-minute huddle at the start of every shift and backs agents when calls turn abusive, has much lower turnover than the rest.