Gone, Baby, Gone

The author’s premise is that the voice industry will not return to the United States. Reflecting the analysis presented in previous chapters, this chapter offers a dim prognosis for those who wish to bring call center jobs “back home.” As the author notes, the value proposition simply isn’t there. Countries such as India and the Philippines offer labor that is both cheap (relative to the West) and skilled enough (when it comes to English fluency). The Philippines in particular has emerged as a call center “nirvana,” as a stable labor market assemblage in which firms find workers and workers find jobs offering strategic and sustainable solutions to their dilemmas.