Where has the year gone? It seems to have flown by since our “Surviving the Recession” sessions in February. We’ve certainly had a lot to think about since then and 2010 is shaping up to bring its own challenges.
This week's blog has Garry Jones, chairman of the TUANZ contact centre committee sharing his thoughts on the year that has been for the contact centre industry.
I know a number of companies have scaled back their operations this year with redundancies throughout the contact centre industry and business in general. We’ve also had recent announcements of more off-shoring to the Philippines, which is always sad to hear.
We’ve managed through the Swine Flu epidemic, the warmest August and the coldest October in many years and are still dealing with an unemployment rate of 6.5%, the highest in almost a decade.
I’ve read that Kiwi’s are feeling more upbeat about the financial situation coming into Christmas so maybe our recession is on the way out. Working for a company with its head office n Perth, we’re seeing the employment market start to pick up as the big mining companies recruit again. Hopefully some of the Aussies’ prosperity will flow to NZ.
2010 brings the threat of large ACC levy increases and an emissions trading scheme that could throw huge cost on business and individuals. All part of the many conditions we work under and I’m sure we’ll all come out the other end in one shape or another.
For those of you who’ve succeeded through a very tough year, congratulations, to those who had it tougher than most, commiserations, but remember “what doesn’t kill us makes us stronger”.
A big thank you to those of you working through keeping the wheels turning for your businesses and customers. I know they’ll appreciate it.
Thank you also to Ernie and the team at TUANZ and the sponsors for keeping us informed, fed and lubricated at the After 5’s and many other events throughout the year. Thanks also to the committee and TUANZ members for your support.
I’m off to the Marlborough Sounds to get away from it all for 2 weeks so I wish you all a Merry Christmas and safe New Year. Good luck to you all for 2010.