Amtrak hiring Call Center Employees

[Acela150]

*Disclaimer* For job posting see the "Careers on the Rails" thread

For the first time in about 3-4 years Amtrak is hiring Call Center Employees in Philly. This after Amtrak closed the Call Center in Riverside, CA which was well documented.

I'm going to gander a guess and say that this is related to the Reauthorization bill in Congress. IIRC, it stipulates that Amtrak is not allowed to outsource work that is unionized at Amtrak. e.g. Call center employees.

 

[Just-Thinking-51]

Add to your guess is they once owned the building in Riverside, which was reportedly sold.

 

[VentureForth]

This sounds like a perfect "Work from Home" job. All you need is a reliable internet connection, access to important software and you can work from your home office in your skivvies.

 

[railiner]

This sounds like a perfect "Work from Home" job. All you need is a reliable internet connection, access to important software and you can work from your home office in your skivvies.

Does Amtrak do that? Have work from home option?

 

[Acela150]

Does Amtrak do that? Have work from home option?

For the call center? I don't think so.

 

[railiner]

For the call center? I don't think so.

If they don't, perhaps they should?
To me, it's a "win-win" setup for both employees and employer. Almost the entire travel industry, as in travel agencies, have converted from "brick and mortar" stores, to work from home operation. Saves employees from commuting time and expense, gives them more time with their families, and makes it easier to have flexible hours to meet call volume demand. For the employer, the obvious savings is on real estate expense. As for monitoring and quality assurance of performance, it can still be done. I really can't see a 'downside' to it....

 

[Palmetto]

I don't care where they work from, as long as they know what they're talking about. Seems NOT to be the case sometimes these days.

 

[railiner]

I don't care where they work from, as long as they know what they're talking about. Seems NOT to be the case sometimes these days.

They need to have an initial training period on the premises, somewhere. And if they pass that training, they should be closely monitored, until they prove themselves. Once cleared to work from home, they should still have recurrent training at regular intervals, or whenever a change of procedures, or new services are introduced. This can be done from home.

They should have also, periodic "familiarization trips", where agents are given train rides on various equipment, so they have a "real" understanding of what it is they are selling. Some of them may have never ridden a train....