In a call center, most likely you are responsible for taking "X" number of phone calls per hour and are allowed "X" number of minutes per call. So most likely every month they will tell you your number of phone calls and the time you were on each call. When you don't have the answer, you either will give the wrong answer to get rid of the call, or ask co-workers or look for the boss to correctly give the customer the right answer.

I suggest you start keeping a log of how many calls you get and unable to get the correct answer due to the supervisor being absent. Note what times unable to find; ie; 10 am to 3 pm.

This person's job as a supervisor is to assist the employees to do their job. If this company can track complaint calls which in a call center most likely get a lot of and can tract that the majority of complaint phone calls received back were during the hours of the supr absence, could show if they had been around, could show they would have less complaints, since if the customer got the correct answer, most likely would not call back to complain.

good luck

Do other people in your department have a problem with they way he handles employees or is the problem primarily due to anxiety?

First off if it us due to anxiety then working in a call center my just be self-defeating for you and putting too much pressure on yourself.

If others in your group also have a problem with the manager and work style then maybe the manager is just not good at his job or is over-busy and stressed him/herself. It is difficult to tell since you did not give much details on exactly what the problems are.

Here is the situation though, if you have a problem with your boss and it is causing you anxiety and daily stress of such great magnitude then maybe the best thing is to find another job. It is unlikely that your boss will change significantly so if you can't move back to another group, that may be your only choice. If the entire team has a problem with this person, then maybe as a team you can talk to your boss about your desire to do a better job and work and needing more information to do that. Just don't expect it to go well.

I would try to rate your company on http://www.cubecheck.com and warn others if this is a bad place to work. You can also use that site to find a place that is a bit more laid back.