Calling capital: call centre strategies in New Brunswick and New Zealand

In: Global networks: a journal of transnational affairs, Band 2, Heft 2, S. 133-152

Abstract

This article compares government promoted call centre initiatives in New Zealand and New Brunswick, Canada, thereby identifying differing policies and practices associated with 'globalization'. Both New Brunswick and New Zealand are small resource based economies in which policy makers aspire to attract foreign investment into call centres as a new means of economic growth and job creation. However there are significant differences between the two call centre strategies. In New Brunswick the provincial government plays a central role, most notably through the use of incentives to lure companies to the province but also through the coordination of education and training. In New Zealand an informal network made up of public and private sector actors drives the strategy, and the relevant government agency (Trade NZ) plays only a coordinating role. Despite these differences both call centre strategies aspire to link service sector activities into global flows and networks, and foster low wage and feminized forms of employment.