Shady sales tactics aren’t just a problem for consumers — they’re a problem for young workers, too

A current CBC Go Public reportappeared to substantiate what many Canadians have lengthy claimed from firsthand expertise: corporations corresponding to Bell and Rogers use aggressive and deceptive sales tactics to squeeze each final greenback out of telecom prospects. Workers and former workers of Canada’s largest telcos reported being pressured to upsell, to mislead prospects, and that they’ve been topic to doubtful incentive schemes. This story is alarming in its personal proper, and Canadians ought to demand higher. And certainly, the CRTC has launched an inquiry on the allegations and plans to host a sequence of hearings subsequent month. The massive telecom corporations, for their half, have rejected the allegations and say they don’t have any tolerance for unethical sales practices. The telecom trade is, after all, removed from distinctive when it comes to its use of unsavoury sales tactics. Canada’s large banks discovered themselves in an uncomfortable highlight final 12 months when a totally different CBC investigationdiscovered that stress to upsell and even mislead prospects was rampant in that trade. That story hit residence for me when one in all my finest college students in Ryerson’s Bachelor of Commerce program got here to me to inform me she had stop her summer season job — her first actual job — at one of many large banks, in mild of continuous stress from her boss to promote monetary devices to retail prospects, no matter buyer want or comprehension. However the large concern right here is not solely about banking or about telecom, as necessary as these two industries are. A serious concern right here additionally has to do with youth — specifically, the young Canadians who’re so usually those being pressured to interact in unethical, and typically unlawful, sales practices.  Contemplate: estimates differ, however consensus appears to be that roughly half of call-centre workers are beneath 30. And turnover in these junior sales jobs is excessive, implying that a lot of young individuals movement by means of these sorts of positions. It isn’t exhausting to know why young individuals are attracted to those jobs: they’re white-collar positions, entry-level at many giant corporations and but, they do not require a lot in the way in which of particular abilities.  Learn extra: Shady sales tactics aren’t just a problem for consumers — they’re a problem for young staff, too http://yourlegalrights.on.ca/news/shady-sales-tactics-arent-just-problem-consumers-theyre-problem-young-workers-too