RICHARDSON R., BELT V. and MARSHALL N. (2000) Taking calls to Newcastle: the regional implications of the growth in call centres, Reg. Studies 34, 357-369. The growth of white-collar jobs in call centres has been a significant feature of the last decade. Local and regional economic development...

Recent years have seen the growth of pre-employment training initiatives focusing on developing generic skills amongst the long-term unemployed in an attempt to ensure their access to jobs in the service economy. This article is concerned with the effectiveness of such training, focusing...

This paper contributes to current debates about gender, work and skill in the service economy, focusing specifically on the case of women's employment in telephone call centres. The paper asks whether call centre employers are capitalising on women's "feminine" social skills, and examines the...