Call centers may make fast food faster

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bucky, I'm not a fast food person, however....

when your boy sees that series of toys...... from his new favorite movie ....... that you can only get in the McDonald's happy meal...... you will find yourself going there every Tuesday so he can get the whole set.
 
-DEADLY SUSHI- said:
Im just guessing that it will cost $4/hr for folks in India to perform the same job.


If they were sending the calls to India it would be much much cheaper than that, possibly lower than $1 an hour, but QOL in India has been on the rise so I'm going to wager around $1.50-$2.50 and hour plus benefits.

I know it sounds crazy to a lot of you, but this is where the world is heading. Outsourcing always makes a huge stink in the news, about how all of our jobs are going to India, China, etc. I'll bet you guys didn't know that your household name tax preparation companies outsource most of the accounting work to India. Same goes for radiology analysis. Radiology grads are in such shortage here in the US, that there's a 30% (i think?) chance that your local radiology clinic outsources its analysis to a radiologist in India.

As for the McDonald's call center, there's on in texas or one of the SW states that's been outsourcing its orders for a few years now... to a call center in Nebraska. Not only are they saving money, their drive through times dropped like crazy, from 110 seconds on average to about 67 seconds on average.

Most folks are still safe in their jobs... but IT professionals beware, especially you web programmers out there. Right now only about 1.2% of IT jobs are outsourced... esitmated to be about 2.6% by 2010, and 6.4% by 2015.


If any of you want a really great read on this topic check out The World Is Flat by Thomas L. Friedman.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0374292884/ref=pd_kar_gw_1/104-2650994-8746302?%5Fencoding=UTF8&v=glance&n=283155
 
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GB said:
My company outsources to India and I believe the employees are paid about $2 per hour.

I used to work for GE here in MN, and the help desk extention was out-sourced to India. T'was maddening as the people answering the phone could do no more then recommend a reboot, and if that didn't work, schedule on-site tech support assistance. On site tech support scheduled from some 12,500 or so miles away! Argh!

Don't know what these folks were paid, but for the services received, I think I'm still owed some service! :glare:
 
You are still talking to a real person--just not in your town. I have read previously about a call center that overlooked the MCD's and the traffic pattern. This particular one with McD's was written about in Tom Friedman's book The World is Flat two years ago. It ain't new.
 
Why would a mcdonalds even need employees? To smile? Yeah right. You place your order on a touch screen. Robots and an automated assembly line put together your food. It comes on a conveyor belt to the window, once you have fed dollar bills into the machine or swiped your card. Scary!
 
Speaking from personal experience working in a call center.......this is a terrible idea........
 
What really irritates me is that McDonald's built a lot of their backbone lately on hiring disabled workers with learning disorders, Down's syndrome, etc. We still have a few that work here in our small town, and it is so wonderful to see them working, and not complaining about anything. They know you by your first name, and service is always with a smile. Shame on you McDonald's. I sure hope they continue their Ronald McDonald House. What lesson will I be able to teach my daughter from outsourcing? Nothing.
 
I agree with you there, and I kindly tell them I cannot understand them, and request to speak to someone who does not speak with an accent that I am not accustomed to. There's a human being on the other end of the line, with feelings and a need for income just like all of us. It's the company who is at fault. Just as we shop stores when there are sales and discounts, companies are purchasing employees on discount, in turn cutting their costs, and increasing their income. Very disheartening.
BigDog said:
One thing that cracks me up though is when the line is answered by someone obviously not of American decent and is quite likely in a foreign country (usually India or something like that) and they say their name is Pete, or Joe, or Paul, or something like that. I just laugh and think "yeah, and I'm jolly old Saint Nicholas!"
 
Papa John's has had on-line ordering for several years. That's even cheaper than hiring some poor slob in a third-world country, and it works quite well.

Henry Ford was many things, some of them not so nice, but he understood one thing quite well: he realized that if he paid his workers enough to buy a Model-T, he would sell a lot more of them, so he voluntarily increased their pay.

Who's going to buy all those Big Macs and Happy Meals when everyone at the bottom of the ladder is out of work?
 
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