Insomnia, excessive daytime sleepiness, anxiety, depression and socioeconomic status among customer service employees in Canada

ObjectivesThe present study alerts on the potential effect of working full time in a call center as a risk factor for neuropsychiatric illnesses. It is the first study investigating deeply presence of anxiety, depression, insomnia and excessive daytime sleepiness among a large population of customer service employees. It has 3 specifics goals which were (1) document presence of sleep disorders among customer service advisors (2) document presence of anxiety and depression in this population (3) determine the influence of the socioeconomic status, duration in position and full time or part-time shift on the diseases above. FindingsIt was found that the majority of people working in customer service are undergraduate students or at a secondary/high school degree. They worked full time, are single and have reported at least two of the neuropsychiatric disorders assessed in the present study. Among customer service advisors enrolled in this study, all neuropsychiatric disorders investigated were present and significantly higher for those working full time. Perceived socioeconomic status (pSES) was almost similar for full time and part time workers with a mean score of 4.8 on the MacArthur scale of subjective social status. Results revealed that duration in position was an excellent predictor of insomnia, sleepiness and anxiety (respectively with R2=91,83%, R2=81,23% and R2=87,46%) but a moderate predictor of depression (R2=69,14%). The pSES was a moderate predictor of sleep disorders (respectively R2=62,04% for insomnia and R2=53,62% for sleepiness) but had a strong association with anxiety and depression (R2=82,95% for anxiety and R2=89,77% for depression). It was found that insomnia and anxiety are more prevalent for immigrants and international students compared to Canadians, while depression was similarly higher for Canadian and immigrants compared to international students. It was found that sleepiness has the same trend in the three subgroups. ConclusionCustomer service employees are exposed to a continuous stimulation of their cognitive functions in addition to different stressors which can progressively and silently damage the nervous system. Investigations on mental and physical health of customer service advisors are worthy of interest, and understanding how their work, their rotating shifts and their socioeconomic status influence their resilience and their performance at work; may help comprehension of similar health issues emerging in similar populations with similar occupations.