Seizing the Time? Union recruitment Potential in Scottish Call Centres

Predictions that employment in call centres in the European Union would grow to 1.8 million by 2002, with over half a million in the UK alone (2.3% of the working population), are likely to be confirmed, if not exceeded (Datamonitor 1998). However, this pattern of growth is far from uniform, as expansion has been, and continues to be, most marked in particular countries and regions. It is not the aim of this article to examine the complex locational factors that have resulted in existing patterns of spatial distribution (Bristow 2000; Mitial 1996 and 1999; Taylor and Bain 1997), but it is necessary to acknowledge that Scotland is a key area of call centre concentration in both UK and European contexts. While it is no easy task to calculate precisely the number of call centres and aggregate employment figures - given both the expansion of existing operations and the start-up of new facilities - our research suggests a total Scottish labour force of around 46,000, working in 220 separate call centres at the end of 2000 (Bain and Taylor 1999; Taylor and Bain 1997, 2001b). These figures are based on exhaustive research conducted for our 1997 and 2001 surveys, supplemented by an additional audit conducted in 1999, and combined with evidence from media reports Peter Bain is a lecturer in industrial Relations in the Department of Human Resource Management, Strathclyde University. Areasof recent research and publication include occupational health and safety, technological change in the workplace, labour history, and contemporary developments in trade unionism. Phil Taylor is a senior lecturer in Industrial Relations in the Department of Management and Organisation, Stirling University. Areas of recent research and publication include call centres, employment relations in microelectronics, occupational health, student part-time employment, and the labour process in accounting. Both authors are lead members of an ESRC-funded project based in Strathclyde, Stirling and Glasgow Caledonian universities investigating the meaning of work in call centres and in software development.