> we weren’t graded purely on call completion time... basing an employee’s performance evaluation on how quickly they get people off the phone is a toxic way to

> we weren’t graded purely on call completion time... basing an employee’s performance evaluation on how quickly they get people off the phone is a toxic way to measure work And yet, it's unfortunately how all too many of these outfits have continued to run their businesses. Being spared this particular indignity was a major privilege. > phone monkeys such as myself reached a state of "burnout" in no more than eighteen months... I hated the job and needed to quit before I hurt myself Sadly, a great many of us essentially felt trapped in our positions for quite a bit longer. Never enough available time/energy to pursue greater things when we had bills to pay, and always insufficient meaningful experience to parlay into anything better. > I’d take a minimum wage job doing manual labor over slapping that headset down over my head again After way too many years, I finally crossed this bridge. I would prefer janitorial work or being a rideshare driver, and have (gladly) done both since leaving tech support. > support, I’d rapidly found out, isn’t fulfilling or exciting—it’s a never-ending grind that wears down even the most optimistic and helpful souls... a Sisyphean torment. This sums it all up in a nutshell. It would be nice to see the whole thing reformed into a ramp for more rewarding work of different kinds, but in our current 'disposable employee' culture, I don't see it happening any time soon. In the mean time, lives are being destroyed and tremendous amounts of potential are being squandered. I can only hope a few people in charge of such operations might read this and think about ways things can be improved.