The Hindu : Karnataka / Bangalore News : Has the charm of call centres faded?

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Thursday, Jul 19, 2007
ePaper

Karnataka

Karnataka - Bangalore

Has the charm of call centres faded?

Shlok Kumar

In 2005, a report came down heavily on the working conditions in call centres
Call centres are not particular about academic qualifications

Bangalore: Having a call centre in Bangalore is the norm for several global companies today. A few years ago, a job at a call centre was seen as the passport to middle class living standards. It is over 10 years since the BPO boom. Has its appeal gone bust?

Call centres jobs are a relatively easy career option. The centres are not particular about academic qualifications as long as one’s spoken English skills and management skills are satisfactory. Says Sivagami (29), a commerce graduate, “I have worked in call centres for over six years. People are basically looking for money, and working in a call centre is good money.” Ask how her social networking had changed, and she replies: “When you join a call centre, you leave your social life behind. Even when you head back home, you think of work. They do let you rest for two days of a week.” She reluctantly agrees that over the years her work schedule had taken a toll on her. “But I’m getting my money”, she says. .

In late 2005 a report by the V.V. Giri National Institute of Labour (an autonomous body under the Labour Ministry) came down heavily on the conditions of work in call centres. The BPO industry criticised the study, but it was an eye opener for call centre employees. In the “dualistic” nature of this industry, there are permanent (team leaders, managers) and non-permanent (call centre agents) employees. The latter can be easily replaced. Work is often camouflaged as “fun,” and their personal lives are marred by constant anxiety, not to mention a plethora of health hazards.

Vignesh (26), an MCA graduate, agrees with the findings of the report. “I have worked in call centres for over two and a half years. When I started out, there was no pressure. The stress grew beyond the levels of human tolerance. I had no time to watch a film, no time to read a book, no time to meet friends, no time to swim.” Vignesh now works as a software test engineer. He adds, “I will never work at a call centre again. Nothing is worth the ordeal I went through.”

His brother Premnath (23), however, continues to work for a call centre, and thinks somewhat differently. Says Premnath: “I return home at 2.30 a.m. and go to sleep at 4 a.m. I get up at noon and go back to work at 3.30 p.m. I take around 350 calls a day and repeat the same five sentences 350 times. But call centres offer top class compensation and faster growth in pay packages.”

Today, young people join and quit call centre jobs with equal ease. Consequently, according to the National Association of Software and Services Companies, attrition rates in the voice-enabled telesales and telemarketing activities, which are currently around 25 per cent, are expected to rise in the next 18 to 24 months to 35 to 40 per cent. The primary reason for this is arguably the pressure they face at home and at work.

Printer friendly page
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail

Karnataka