It is extremely disappointing that the NYT would highlight this sort of business in anything other than a negative way. This business model is yet another method of siphoning off the wages of the potentially middle class into the hands of those who need it the least.
The top performers making $20 an hour, before taxes, as an independent contractor (that means you're going to net about $12)? That's ridiculous. Paying more than $10 a month for $25,000 in term life insurance? If you're over 50 and/or have a serious medical condition maybe that's not bad, but otherwise it's a ripoff. And any insurance company selling a $2,000 life policy is a boiler room operation anyway.
This story is one of many applicable anecdotes about why America is failing it's citizens and losing what little remains of it's middle class.
45
A quick google search revealed that the average per capita income for Maine is about $28,500. The average for the US is $29,900. (As of 2015).
If you factor in all the benefits of working from home (like saving $$ on childcare costs), seems like these folks may actually be doing BETTER than average.
8
Use and abuse of the middle classes using a DJT technique. The corporations at the top get the gravy secondary to not offering any benefits, robbing Social Security [FICA], skipping Workers' Compensation, short term disability, circumventing fair hiring rules, etc., by stating these folks are independent contractors. Financial support for grandma, grandpa, orphans, widowhood is overrated as is medical care. MAGA! Feels like this is an approach we are all living through called MAGA. Should be interesting to see how America survives on 30K per year complete with the new suggested crazy Republican tax plan. And such corporations 'might be given' a 20% tax rate because they will hire more folks. With a little luck, such in America outsourcing of jobs to the American middle class will crawl up the ladder and corporations will then be run by one real employee. Yipee. . .MAGA is achieved!
21
Are these the people on the other end of those calls made in violation of the Do Not Call List? If so, I hope I am annoying them greatly by wasting their time by pretending to be a live prospect.
8
Please read and comprehend. This job is for people who are ANSWERING calls made to a life insurance company. The people are calling because they saw advertising and wanted to know more. This is not telemarketing.
14
One aspect of the 'gig economy' is the 'suicide project'. That's where a free-lance management or technology consultant is given a 'mission' by senior management, that is so distasteful by the rank-and-file that it leads to the ultimate dismissal of the consultant. It's a simple way for senior management to get something done, without getting fired themselves. After doing these types of troubleshooting projects for many years, I decided that they are a necessary and effective form of management in many cases.
The 2016 film The Accountant is a fictional story about these sorts of projects.
3
Yes, the "opportunity has been transformative" says Emmett Jones in the article. The magic of the so called "sharing economy" has never been so transformative. That is, It has never been so transformatively profitable for corporations to hire employees offering them little or no job security, pension and health benefits, access to raises and promotions, or training to build human capital.
These corporations can also avoid paying wage taxes, and having to invest in the physical capital of office buildings and factories.There is little incentive to build capital because the corporation can use the auto or living room of the gig "employee" (or that of their parent with whom they still live) for the purposes of producing their service.
These jobs have little lasting social utility but the opportunity for corporate short term profits are greatly enhanced.
41
Seems like a form of torture. You get to rank yourself "obsessively" against the top person all to make less than $30K and get lousy steak knives. No one should be eating steak anyway!
23
I️ worked in a call center like this for a tech company after graduating undergrad in 2015. I got $16-an-hour and was subjected to similarly ruthless “meritocracy” metrics.
The rules of this tech company’s supposed meritocracy would have been much more bearable had their also not also been a manufactured and forced culture of FUN! HAPPY! I️ LOVE WORK! LOL! OH GOLLY GOSH!
I️ felt like I️ was being mistreated while also being forced to exclaim to my abuser, with a smile, that I️ love it more than anything
51
Not only "Death of a Salesman," but death of the middle class.
32
Don't know if it is just me, but I felt the article had an "Oh, look! These poor, gullible folks, giving it their all for what appears so little to ME." kind of condescending tone.
Life everywhere, globally is getting tough. People are happy to just have and keep a job. Every cent, paisa, or penny is a struggle. So yes, people obsess over leaderboards and two-finger spacing between mouth and mouthpiece. And yes, a bright pullover or steak knives are motivators enough in a world of increasingly shrinking resources. More importantly, the pullover and knives are a guarantee that they retain their livelihood, at least for today--literally at times. So maybe 30K before taxes aren't livable wages, but their significance would zoom should they be taken away entirely.
15
Regarding your opening paragraph: the NYT has a way of doing that, being totally clueless what the world outside Manhattan and LA is about.
5
It's true what they say about the moose up here, you definitely don't want to hit one, you'll be decapitated. Regarding the gig economy, maybe making $30,000 isn't a lot to the previous poster, but it is a lot in Ft. Fairfield, Maine.
11
Marks looking for marks. It's the American way.
29
No where in this article does it mention that Liveops agents make $0.20 a minute talk time. No calls = no pay. Agents must supply their own computers with pricey mandated software and their own landline phone - even pay for their own background check. Scheduling ‘commits’ is first come first served and many agents are unable to schedule a fraction of desired hours. No where is there a discussion of the hard sell Affinity sales program the agents must read verbatim to push merchandise or face CEs (compliance events) and termination. The turn over is monumental. Working for Liveops is illegal in many states because the workers are unprotected.
This piece was a poorly researched propaganda tool. Shame on NYTimes for such one sided reporting.
88
Flexibility of hours and location can be helpful for some, but these are not high quality jobs by any stretch of the imagination. 30K/ year for the top agent with the most work means all the other agents are earning less - and no benefits or job security. It may make sense for some people but the hype about this being some kind of amazing, new opportunity is disheartening.
42
How much are you supposed to make with no education expense, no commute, minimal equipment investment and the flexibility that was noted? A good job isn't a guarantee in life but the route to the opportunity to end up in a good job has to be through at least a four year degree and the attendant expense.
5
While this interesting, the only thing that matters is:
(1) What does it pay?
(2) How steady is that pay? How steady is the available work?
(3) Is there a ramp for RISING pay?
(4) Are there (DECENT) benefits?
(5) How much control do you have over your work or is it just window dressing?
(6) Do they provide training and backup or are you sort of hanging in the wind?
For those who are NOT aware of what goes on overseas, this sort of piece work has been around in other countries for YEARS - mostly in countries that have had BIG economic implosions (like Japan,Ireland and Greece). The fact that the U.S. is selling this as some sort of great save says something about its economy.
41
Like too many other things in this country, this approach is a meager attempt to solve a huge problem. Instead of reaching professionals when we have issues, we encounter people trained to read a flow chart. Thinking outside of the box is prohibited, and they wouldn't know how to even if they were allowed. I can't think of a single instance of dealing with a call center in the last decade, that ended well. Companies stay focused on the mantra of profit above all else. I am in IT, and when I reach to break the glass in an emergency, I end up in The Dominican Republic, The Phillipines, Haiti, Uzbekistan, or numerous other places, and rarely can the agents speak English well enough to solve my problem. Welcome to America, the land of smoke and mirrors, the long con.
40
i guess i don't understand how the top person makes 30K before taxes - how is that a livable wage ? he estimates he is spending 40-50 hours a week on this -
and
if the top person makes that little what does the average person make
also interested in knowing what the person who does the customer service call makes- not someone selling but someone assisting with a customer question
55
The customer service agents - Home Depot, Humira, AAA, etc -make from $.20 to $.30 a talk minute. No calls = no pay. Some lines have bonuses if you keep average talk time down or talk callers into other services.
It is not a liveable wage. And that is why many states outlaw working for Liveops.
23
This kind of jobs will disappear in the near future. AI will take over. In fact, personally, I rather talk to machines than real people. I hate to deal with sales people. Back to AI, it will be tailored specifically to each client and it will speak whatever language the clients speak. Today, running such an operation by hiring "contractors" is expensive. Humans are imperfect. AI will do it flawlessly. At work, I am still trying to figure out how not to be replaced by AI. Job security is so yesterday! But this is exciting. In the old days, I can say I am very knowledgeable for what I do. But I can never be more knowledgeable than AI. It is very intellectually chanllenging to figure a way out.
13
AI is great.
I worked for IBM as a programmer. We had to be logged on to help desk phones a certain number of hours per week. If the actual help desk didn't answer a call within 3 rings, it rolled over to us.
We were supposed to enter the problem in an AI system and read back the solution. That worked for some calls, but other times, we understood a better solution, and would provide it.
But even better, sometimes the programmer who answered the call would be the person who had written the software. Then you got real help. I recall one time the person who answered my help desk call asked where I was, and when it turned out we were in the same building, he invited me to his office. He quickly solved my problem with a workaround and initiated a fix for the software.
AI is great for simple solutions to well understood problems. Systems such as IBM's Watson may provide better answers, but they will not be available for run of the mill calls for the foreseeable future.
12
I've been with LiveOps for over 10 years as a sales phone agent. I'm very proud of the quality of work we do companywide (misrepresenting products/services, or adding unwanted charges to an order is grounds for termination), and very happy to work from home.
I can maximize my time and energy. I provide high quality work for LO's infomercial clients, and to the buyers on the phone both.
LiveOps has nimble management that LISTENS to it's contractors ( we are independent agents) while being able to quickly scale up or down to meet fulfillment needs. It is a meritocracy - the better you perform the more calls are routed to you - and the more money one makes. Success truly feeds on itself.
Management is supportive -there is a real team spirit.
We have self teaching tutorials to certify for programs
( call types ) and to self-improve our skills, as well as internal conference calls to foster best practices among agents.
Truly the sky is the limit when it comes to multiple opportunities and maximizing one's skill sets -which leads to more pay.
Independent contractor status means I work when I want to-again meaning I am never having to work when i'm not at peak psychological and physical strength.
LO's practices are everything that could be desired in a workplace - and being a virtual workplace means it comes to my home office - not me to it. Thanks for the article Noam
16
Sorry. I'm not buying your brand. Based on the article, this is nothing but a Ponzi scheme designed to create sales. I suspect you are part of its so-called management.
32
Seems less like the sky and more like a low ceiling.
13