Working conditions and health in Swedish call centres

A 2003 study found that nine out of 10 call centre operators had suffered some type of physical ailment in the last month. High noise levels are a particular risk factor. In all, some 10% of their working time was lost on sick leave.
Although there are many definitions as to what a call centre actually is, it is clear that this relatively new sector is rapidly growing. In general, one can say that a call centre is a group of people providing service at a distance using information and communication technology. Approximately 1.5% of the working population in Sweden work in call centres, compared with about 5% of jobs in the US, 1.3% in Europe and 2% in the UK. According to the publicly owned Invest in Sweden Agency, the number will increase by 10% each year between 2002 and 2007