IT - Call centers (BPO) and cultural changes

When the IT boom happened in India it was thanks to the effects of globalization. Multi-National Corporations noticed India's English competency and came in full swing, mainly from Europe and America. The first boom of its kind started with the rise of dot com industry. The Y2K boom and and the ensuing bug closely followed the fall of dot com industry. The American software industry was full of Indian techies working in all sectors from NASA to AT&T.

The success of Hotmail and Subir Bhatia the Indian brain behind this venture was like a landmark case study for the entire Indian IT segment. The amount of money he made overnight was like a carrot behind which the Indian IT industry ran. When the dot com bubble bloomed there were millionaires in every nook, and on every corner, of Indian cities.

Now the Indian IT industry, which made its mark in the global arena has seen another boom. The boom of Business Process Outsourcing (BPO). The increasing customer focus led customer service to unseen heights. The customer was the king and needed to be attended to 24/7 so the need for call centers was raised. With the Indian subcontinents ability to speak the English language and to talk politely to the customer even when they are screaming at them with abuse!

Other IT Support positions which needed a strong technical background, like an engineering degree were a little difficult to get in, but with call centers even an undergraduate who knows English well would get a job and earn five figure salaries. This came as great news to all students and job seekers. Within no time the number of students sleeping in class doubled. College dropouts increased.

For those who do not know the scenario when United States of America work India sleeps there is a 12-hour time difference between the two countries so these call center workers need to be up in the night to answer calls. With this in mind, the habits of such employees have changed and they are now known as the night owls of Metropolis. Their work has changed, so too their eating habits, sleeping pattern, and even their socio-cultural engagements.

According to Vishwas a call center team leader although he is financially independent he misses hanging out with his friends during evenings and late night outings. There are many like Vishwas who become Vish or Val or even Chris when the take the phone calls and start servicing the foreign clients. This has seen a change with legal regulations on outbound call centers from USA to stick to original names.

According to an estimate done by a Non Governmental Organisation 20% of the current generation of kids coming out of school are going through this BPO boom and joining call centers. Firstly, this is damaging the education levels in metros and big cities and also impacting heavily on their behavioral pattern. The saddest thing is the fact that when they want to opt out of their business of BPO they will not be able to find another job since their skill and educational level will not be on par with the available talent in the job market. Also the pay scales will not even be interesting since the pay at a call center is on a par with a technical engineer in a software services company.

With such repercussions this article just tries to make the point to these executives and their potentially bleak future. With the shifting mindsets of international governments and the basic survival question of outsourced work it really is a hanging sword on the millions of call center employees in India.

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