I've worked in some big companies with call centres, etc. Often management is under pressure to achieve specific numbers for things. The pressure can be quite

I've worked in some big companies with call centres, etc. Often management is under pressure to achieve specific numbers for things. The pressure can be quite intense (i.e., either hit those numbers or we will replace you with someone else). They often convince themselves that the reasons they don't hit their numbers is because somebody is abusing their friendly demeanor. Sometimes that idea is also pushed onto them in their performance reviews. The main thing to realise is that often in these teams they hire just about anybody. They'll can pick up huge numbers of people a month with the idea that it's easier to let someone "prove themselves" and fire all the people who "don't perform" (statistics is usually not a strong point on these teams). People who survive for a long time are promoted into line management. Then it's the slippery pole all the way up (with everyone stomping on each other's face to get a leg up). There often isn't any respect given to other people. They are panning for gold, essentially. You are either gold or you are dirt. IT departments are usually quite civilised in comparison. This is mainly because of the difficulty of doing our jobs and the difficulty of finding replacements. You see much better treatment in all such departments, but often IT is the best of the lot.