Introduzione

This paper reports the methodology and main findings of an empirical study of a sample of 1815 call handlers from twenty-one call centes in four Italian provinces (Milano, Roma, Cosenza and Catania). Working conditions in call centres have received much attention in the sociology of work. However, factors linked to organizational models and practices (job quality) have always been analyzed separately from individual perceptions concerned with how call handlers experience work conditions (quality of working life). Rather than assuming a priori the existence of a single model of call-centre work organization and viewing the call-handler’s work as an expression of hardships that are endemic to the profession itself, this multilevel project examines both contextual and individual factors that can significantly affect the quality of working life in this specific sector. What emerges is a varied and heterogeneous picture in which signs of occupational discontent emerge only under certain co

In questa introduzione, si definiscono gli obiettivi, la metodologia e i principlai risultati del progetto PRIN sulla qualità della vita lavorativa nei call center