The ‘European Union’ or EU is a political – economic union of 28 member nations (now 27) that are primarily located in Europe. The EU has developed an internal single market through standardisation of laws that allow free movement of goods, services, people and capital within that internal market. All the participating nations abide by these international laws and policies.
‘Brexit’
On 24th June, Britain decided to finally leave EU and take greater control of its regulation policies, immigration laws, borders and economy. This is going to be a two year long process though, to actually clear away from all the shackles of international negotiations over trade, business and political links with the EU. This is Brexit.
But the effects are going to be tremendous. Since EU entrails and moderately effects world economy, the shrinking in the number of power nations to be reduced to a 27 bloc group, will have many underlying effects on business setups and business economy worldwide, and contact center industry will be no exception.
Financial instability
If you have been closely following the updates on this long campaign, you would have already got a hold of all the upcoming global economic predictions, as narrated by experts worldwide. Many major companies are already planning to pull out their business investments from Britain, including the likes of investment giant JPMorgan, Airbus and an another major overseas investor. The reason is simple – uncertainty in terms of financial stability. If Britain is to tighten its immigration policies, take greater control of its borders, scrutinize trade policies, etc. businesses will also plan counteracts accordingly to maintain their domain stability and not jeopardise smooth functioning.
Contact centers and Customer Data Policies
Similarly, if you are working in a contact center, you understand the importance of customer data and how our businesses preliminarily work around it. It was not very long ago that EU members voted in favour to pass strict laws around customer data privacy protection and it was to be implemented. Now post Brexit, it is going to be a detrimental process for contact centers to understand the overwhelming condition about whether Britain would confine to those laws or have a set of its own rules and policies around personal data identification measures. This again leaves the contact center industry hanging in the middle ground – to cope up with two different law regimes, since the farewell.
World Economy in Jeopardy
Britain’s exit and hot debate around the same has already started to marginalise overall economic growth in these last two weeks. In a recent staff mail by Jamie Dimon, chief executive of US bank JP Morgan said that, “While these changes are not certain, we have to be prepared to comply with these new laws and policies as we serve our clients around the world.” And, Dimon is not the only one with concerns and questions, businesses all over the globe are in awe of seeking answers and gaining clarity over ‘how things would plan out from now on and what changes can be expected’.
In a typically run contact center, mostly the processes and the resources are outsourced. With swiftly changing norms and policies, it can be a gripping scenario for your agents to cope up with and play along.
The Conclusion
But in a nutshell, whether it is a contact center that you are running or any other business, all leaders and top managers want to see a detailed plan to support economy during the coming transition phase, as confidence, investment, hiring and growth would all be deeply affected by a prolonged period of uncertainty.
If you have more insights on Brexit or want to share your feedback with us, drop a comment below.
