On the Line
How call centers quietly became the modern epicenter of precarious, exploitative work.
Over one million people in the United Kingdom alone are now estimated to work in call centers, often on casualized contracts and with low pay. Mark Serwotka, leader of the UK’s Public and Commercial Services union, described them as “the new dark satanic mills” and have been said to replace factories, in the Global North, as epicenters of worker exploitation.
Jamie Woodcock’s new book Working the Phones: Control and Resistance in Call Centers is a detailed study into what life is like for call-center workers. Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal for Jacobin spoke to him about the motivations for the book, the potentials for organizing, and the future of call-center work.
Jaswinder Blackwell-Pal
Your new book is an insider’s account of what it’s like inside the call center. Why do you think it’s important for us to get to grips with what’s going on inside these workplaces in particular?
Jamie Woodcock
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