The Panama Call Center Industry For US Customer Service

Written by: Poirot

Did you know that a lot of Call Centers for US companies were established outside US? Not Only in Canada, but mostly in Mexico, Panama, Bolivia and other 3rd world countries in South America.

A few years ago many call centers were established in Panama. Most of them provide some type of customer service to the U.S people and a few of them provide their services to countries in Central and or South America, Spain, Canada, etc.

Some of the companies that work in Panama are: Dell, C&S American Solution (LG Electronics), Sitel, Nars/Integrity, APAC/ Star Contact (Copa Airlines).

The average salary is $2.40 (minimum) – $4.00 (maximum) per hour. An annual salary raise is offered, usually 2% of the rate per hour or 10 cents.

Working for one of these companies means to work 6/7 days of the week, some of this companies never close, they are available 24/7.

A Call Center in Bolivia

This also means working during the Panamanian and U.S Holidays. If you call on July 4^th, Christmas, New Year, etc, someone will answer the phone, reply to an email or chat with you.

These companies usually offer a bonus that goes up to $600 dollars.

The bonus is related to:

1. Productivity

• Calls: +40 daily calls
• Emails: + 50 daily emails
• Chats: +50 daily chats
• Sales/Collections: TBD

1. Survey made by the customer

• From 0-100%: Must be above 80%
• From 1-10: Must be above 8.5

1. Perfect attendance

Usually these companies tie the bonus together so if an agent doesn’t hit one metric then the bonus is lost.

However the bonus attracts so many people that is likely that when a customer calls one of this companies, they will end up talking to a lawyer, teacher, financial graduate, psychologist, designers, engineers, marketing professional, 3D animation designer, computer analyst, etc.

The minimum salary in Panama is $624, so hitting the bonus plus the base salary would mean to make almost double.