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How not to be a worry-wart when you know there's nothing that worrying will do to solve it.
I work in a call center environment (incoming calls only). We are a 24/7/365 operation. I've always disliked my shift, but never been able to change it. We've been given opportunity periodically, to change shifts, but there hasn't been anything offered along the way that was any better. Thus I stuck with the shift I dislike (has me working every Friday and Saturday). I work 10 hours/4 days. I work on Mondays and Tuesdays, and also on Fridays and Saturdays, 10 hours each.
I've never liked it. Because .. as hard as it is to believe, a lot of the world still has weekends off. There are things, a lot of things that I miss out on, family-wise, that go on, over the weekend, .. gathering with family to do various things. Because they happen to fall in a time-frame that the rest of the world is off, weekends. I miss being able to be a part of that, a lot of times, more times than not, in fact, I have to work, and can't get off.
Being able to get off on a Monday or Tuesday is not nearly as problematic as trying to do so on a weekend. Where I work, that is nearly impossible, to get off on a weekend.
Thus I miss out on a lot with family gatherings.
Being the *glass half empty* sort that I am, rather than the *half full* I wish I was, I am worried to death as a major shakeup is coming.
We've not been told the particulars and I guess we will be told when the time is decided by management.
We are all going to be required to take a different shift.
What shift is that?
We don't know, haven't been told.
Always before, we'd be given the opportunity periodically to bid on working a different shift, when the opportunity arose to do so (usually a couple of times a year) and if you didn't see anything you were interested in, you could bypass it, and just keep doing what you were doing.
This time however, it's being said that call volume, vs. staffing availability is being realigned and that all the shifts that are presently being worked, are going away. And there will be new shifts that everyone will be required to work.
My worrying about it, of course, isn't gonna change a thing, and I know that.
But, doesn't stop the worry.
This being a 24/7/365 operation, what if I'm now required to pull a shift from 11 PM to 7 AM or something of that order. Or worse yet, even have to work all weekend now, every weekend.
Yes, there is always the answer of, "go find another job".
Believe me, I have tried doing that for the 6 years I've been there. No real marketable skills, thus the reason I work in a call center. I am 54 years old, and had been a SAHM for forever. Life happened, and I had to return to the workforce. I don't have the gumption to get up and go get a college degree at this point in my life. Likely the reason the 6 years of keeping a feeler on where else I might work, has produced no results.
I just can't imagine how much worse life is going to get if they change the shift from what I already don't like, to what I really dislike even more.
And of course, thus far, the only word from on high is that it's all going to change, .. the shifts presently being worked are going away, being replaced by new shifts. No further clarification as of yet.
Anybody else a worrier by nature, and how did you deal with the massive shakeups you knew were coming in your workplace?
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Yes, there is always the answer of, "go find another job".
Believe me, I have tried doing that for the 6 years I've been there. No real marketable skills, thus the reason I work in a call center. I am 54 years old, and had been a SAHM for forever. Life happened, and I had to return to the workforce. I don't have the gumption to get up and go get a college degree at this point in my life. Likely the reason the 6 years of keeping a feeler on where else I might work, has produced no results.
how did you deal with the massive shakeups you knew were coming in your workplace?
The answer you don't want to hear is "Get another job!" What have you been looking for and how much does the call center pay? Probably not much. Try retail, much retail requires little in the way of experience or training. turnover is high so there are always jobs.
LOL. I make pretty good $ for a *call center* environment. I work in low level techie support, so it's not just call center, it's a little more involved than that.
I make just over $15/hr. And benefits, 401K, health ins., dental ins., vision ins., paid sick leave, paid vacation (which one plays the devil trying to get).
Hard to find the above in a retail setting, if not impossible
Ever tried going someplace like Amazon? They pay reasonably well for their call centers, plus I think reimbursement for internet expenses. Added benefit, you get to work from home!
Might be worth looking into if it's a possibility in your area.
I would absolutely love to be a virtual call center agent, work from home. In fact, did it through the company I work for, temporarily as a pilot project, (essentially done to see if it can be done, for the work we do), and I thought it was a rousing success. But I'm not in a position to know what the particulars are on why that wasn't ever anything that took off. It didn't, take off.
Amazon, I have looked, they do have a presence in the state I live in, but I'm not mobile, I can't move, and the commute is entirely too long. I don't guess they allow for a virtual call center worker, if not in that area.
I have looked at doing just that, being a call center worker, from home, thus far everything is pretty much a sham. I haven't found anything reputable.
I think, for the most part, the call center worker at home, .. it's because you were with a company that sent their employees home to work. The company I work for, very/extremely conservative, and that doesn't look to be happening.
I do keep a look out though, since that's my forte', and I'm good at it. Thanks for the suggestion.
Location: East of Seattle since 1992, 615' Elevation, Zone 8b - originally from SF Bay Area
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At least you have some advance notice. When a relative worked at the Eddie Bauer call center as a supervisor back in the late 1990s, she showed up one day and was escorted out by security, along with several hundred others. While their problem was lack of sales, they, and other retail sales call centers have had many layoffs since due to the increase in on-line ordering.
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