A Study on the Quality of Life of Night Shift Call Center Agents

Abstract

In less than 10 years, the call center industry has provided jobs to 235,000 Filipinos. It is one of the fastest growing in the country today. It has attracted people from different age groups and socio-economic levels despite odd work hours. With this, the study aimed to determine the quality of life of night shift call center agents. It also aimed to examine closely which specific variables contributed to quality of life scores. Survey questionnaires were distributed personally and through email to call center agents working in Metro Manila through purposive sampling. The researcher adapted the World Health Organization’s Quality of Life (WHOQOL-BREF) instrument which assesses 24 items relating to quality of life as well as two items from overall quality of life and health. The instrument’s 24 items were divided into 4 domains (Physical, Psychological, Social Relationships, and Environment) and were used to compute the overall perception of their quality of life. Data accumulated were subjected to frequency counts, correlation tests, and ranking of means. Psychographic variables like gender, monthly income, presence/absence of illness, and marital status were all tested if they had an association with Quality of Life using Spearman Correlation. Gender, monthly income, and the presence/absence of illness were found to have a significant but weak correlation with quality of life while marital status had no significant correlation. The Social Relationships domain was found to be the domain which the respondents were most satisfied with whereas the Physical domain ranked the least. Answers on how to improve the quality of life of this group were gathered. Time management, more rest days, better security and transportation are examples of the ones enumerated during data collection. The quality of life of night shift call center agents was generally found to be on an average level. It is suggested that qualitative methods be used along with quantitative methods for further studies.