'1m Interval' Call Center COVID-19 Infection 'Emergency'... Authorities Launch Financial Firms Survey

A COVID-19 cluster infection occurred at a call center on the 11th floor of the Korea Building in Sindorim-dong. On the 10th, quarantine officials from Guro-gu operated a screening clinic for residents in front of the Korea Building in Guro-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jin-hyung aymsdream@

[Asia Economy Reporter Kangwook Cho] Financial authorities have launched an investigation into the actual conditions of outsourced call centers operated by financial companies. This is to prevent a recurrence of the COVID-19 cluster infection incident that occurred at a call center located in Guro-gu, Seoul.

According to financial authorities on the 11th, the Financial Supervisory Service has begun a full-scale survey to examine the operation status of call centers for insurance companies, card companies, and others, as well as COVID-19 prevention measures.

A financial authority official said, "Since call centers can be vulnerable to cluster infections, we are inspecting their operational status."

Previously, a large number of COVID-19 cases were confirmed at an outsourced call center of an insurance company located in Guro-gu. The call center was identified as a major cause of the cluster infection due to employees working in close proximity, less than 1 meter apart, and the difficulty of wearing masks while attending to customers. In particular, the spaces of small financial company call centers operated in an outsourced form tend to be relatively cramped.

The financial authorities requested financial companies to apply "social distancing" measures to the call center work environment to reduce COVID-19 infections. Since many people working in a confined space pose a high risk of cluster infections, it was pointed out that the workspace should be maximized by measures such as "spacing out seating" among employees. The financial authorities sent an official letter containing these details to industry-specific associations in the financial sector.

Shift work, staggered work hours, and telecommuting are also considered measures to prevent cluster infections. Currently, large financial companies are implementing shift and staggered work, but the situation is different for call centers. In particular, shift work is difficult to introduce because it directly affects the income of call center counselors. Most call center counselors are non-regular workers such as dispatched or subcontracted employees.

Telecommuting is also considered difficult to apply to call centers due to issues such as personal information protection. Call center counselors handle various personal information while attending to customers, and telecommuting could increase the risk of personal information leakage.

A financial authority official said, "Considering these realistic circumstances, we are considering institutional measures to support telecommuting for call center employees."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.