This was the article I had written to be published in the Hindu newspaper in the year 2006 on the wrong perceptions related to Call Centres and BPO's . I found this when I was checking my old mails so thought will share the same. Though the views expressed here would have now changed exponentially but still it was nice reading it.
-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Night shift, strain, health problems, no pride, unsafe environment, no growth, no future, insecurity of the industry, experience not taken into account, total seclusion from the social life, the list can keep going… these are some of the very common perceptions that people have about the call centre industry which is on a fast track these days.
The human body is naturally designed in a way that it can adjust to time zone changes. We go through this phenomenon quite frequently when we travel from one continent to another. You start travelling in the day and stay in the air for almost 24 hours but still find the destination time to be in the day. The change in the body clock does take time, but for sure it gets adjusted in a couple of days. Same is the perception about loosing sleep when someone joins a BPO or a call centre. An individual looses sleep for the initial couple of days till his body undergoes time clock transformation. Slowly but steadily the life becomes normal as for any other individual who works during the day. All the over exageration that people say they go through working in the night is painful, is however overpowered by the charm of the various aspects of the industry itself. The pain of night shift is just a mental block.
The day has 24 hours and the individual whether he works in the day or night spends a total of max 11 hours outside his residence working which is inclusive of the travel time. The individual clearly has another 13 hours at his disposal. It is a proven fact that if a human body gets a 7 hours of sleep, it can function as normal as it can be. The individual is still left with a solid 6 hours at his disposal for his social life which for sure can be spent in the time zone 3 PM to 9 PM in the night. Apart from this he also gets 2 paid workings days as weekly off’s. Anything more than this is abosolutely unreasonable with the amount of other benefits that the individual gets. This is again all about the mental block that one has about this industry.
The size of the Indian BPO market is likely to be around $9-12 billion by 2006 and the business process outsourcing (BPO) industry in the country is expected to employ around one million people by 2008, ICRA said in its Indian BPO industry report. Also according to recent reports, the BPO market for information technology in India is all set to grow from the current $1.3 billion to over $8 billion by 2010. Though the market was tough and was under a high-pressure scenario, the industry was still able to garner 2% of the global market in financial year 2002-03. According to Nasscom estimates, Revenues generated by the BPO industry grew 59.1% to reach Rs 11,300 crore in 2002-03. This for sure is not an industry, which can be insecured or has a risk a high business fluctuation. This probably is one of the industry which is here to stay for ever till the time business has needs and wants high profitability which is only possible by outsourcing. I think one should really be proud of being associated with the industry which has grown faster than any other industry.
This tremendous growth of this industry clearly shows the success it has had in the last decade or so. I am sure an industry cannot succeed if it has all of its employees either sick or stressed out and also that this success has been consistent and not transitory. The growth has been an a constant upward trend. There are many anti outsourcing bills passed in the US, but again these are only governmental outsourcing which is less then 5% of the actual potential. We all remember that in mid 1900 when the manufacturing industry slowly started moving out of US, there was the same hue and cry and there were bills passed to stop it, but virtually was not possible. After all it is all about low investment and high profitability.
All of us go through a very tiring day’s start, as we have to travel long distances in jam-packed buses or trains. No industry offers you a pick up and drop at your doorstep unless you are at an executive level, but this industry offers this facility even to an entry level position, infact some of the call centers even have air conditioned cabs. This is a big boon looking at the heavy rush, body pain, pocket theft and the high amount of time consumption while travelling in a bus or a train. This pick up and drop facility removes the strain and the stress from the picture and it also gives a secured passage for the individual to the office.
All BPO companies provide food in-house. Some companies serve food free of cost, while others subsidize the food by 50%. According to estimates, the average spend per person per day on food comes to about Rs 60-70 and most BPO companies have arrangements for three meals a day. Apart from this many companies in this industry provides 24 hrs medical facilities with a doctor and nurse in attendance, gyms and also 24-hour health food café. What more can one ask for in a work environment? Every individual is convered by either Family Health plan for himself and other members of the family or is covered under Company’s group health Insurance.
Coming to very vital part of any one’s life – The career & growth that for sure needs to be spoken about here. Generally someone needs atleast a couple of years experience to grow from one level to the next level or have a salary jump of 5000 bucks or more. But here in the call centre world an individual jumps from a Customer service executive or an associate level to a supervisor in six months with a salary jump in excess of 5000 bucks.
No other industry spends a lot of money on parties, employee motivation, employee education and employee welfare. This is the only industry which offers incentives apart from the Sales and Marketting industry. For today’s youngsters, the call centers are a welcome addiction. The industry has woven such magic around the entire nation that these days a city without a call centre would be hard to find. Call centers contribute a fair share to the revenue of the Indian BPO industry. Atleast 50% of the employees in the major Indian BPO’s are women, both married and unmarried, so this makes the industry highly competetive too. This clearly shows that women are comfortable working out here and proves that it is a safe place to work too.
The middle class Indian who contributes to 40% of total population has undergone a drastic attitudinal changes towards life has undergone a drastic change in the last few years. Everybody here wants to live “life king size”. This demands for luxury and need for high-income spending groups coupled with a thoroughly cosmopolitan outlook life. BPO’s are a major turn on for young graduates. In addition to providing employment, as said above the industry offer excellent benefits, good working environment and attractive remuneration packages. So who wouldn’t choose to be a call centre employee?
Though this industry’s major work is carried out in the dark of the night, this booming Indian Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is called a 'sunshine' sector and would continue to be one whether people’s wrong perception changes or not! There is too much at stake here and there is no place for wrong notions!
Happy to be part of this Great BPO space
