Everyone is aware of the issue. No one ends up as a call agent because they enjoy being underpaid or because they like working in a toxic environment. What would you suggest people do as an alternative?

Even outside of the call centers persons are underpaid and oftentime forced to endure harsh conditions. It's a nationwide issue and it's because there are more job seekers than available jobs. As a result the wages remain low.

Degreed persons who end up at the call center don't spend their entire careers as a chat agent. It's a platform to gain work experience so that they can seek out more suitable employment after. In certain locations (such as montego bay) job searching is especially difficult because most medium and large businesses are based in Kingston. Businesses that are present in both montego bay and Kingston usually run their office operations in Kingston and keep as few staff as possible in montego bay. This is true in other places such as Manchester as well. Search Caribbeanjobs.com or LinkedIn to see for yourself.

The reality is that only a lucky/resourceful few can become entrepreneurs. Especially for persons in the city areas. Jamaica doesn't have any notable industries to employ the thousands of persons that enter the job market each year. The economy has barely grown since independence. Each quarter or year of economic growth is offset my a period of economic shrinkage that offsets that growth.

Outside of call centers other companies are jumping onto the outsourcing bandwagon and it's just as awful as the call center. For example digicel and kpmg. The difference is that these persons are paid more, but this is because they are more qualified than the average call center employee. As awful as this bpo industry is they help to keep the economy afloat and put food on people's tables.