Features: Magazine | Literary Review | Life | Metro Plus | Open Page | Education Plus | Book Review | Business | SciTech | Friday Review | Young World | Property Plus | Quest | Folio |

Working while the world sleeps

What's it like for women to work on night shifts? Hema Vijay finds out

THE PROS AND CONS Though more women are opting for night shift jobs, it can take a toll on their health

Imagine dressing up and stepping out to work when the rest of the family and the world are cosily tucked in bed! An emergency call? Not really, it's just another day, or should we say, another night in the life of Vinitha, a call centre professional.

However, Vinitha's story is not unique. Today, thousands of young and not-so-young women hop on to buses at midnight that take them to the scores of call centres scattered across the city. "Night shifts are pretty much the same as day jobs," says Usha, a night shift veteran. "You just have to make sure you eat right, get enough sleep and are not tempted to treat day time as extra time to party or shop."

She agonises the fact that society turns its nose down on call centre professionals. "Unlike what most people think, not just anybody can land this job. Like other professions, there is a lot of skill involved. It is a profession that has given me good money and I respect it," she says.

Night shifts pay more than day jobs at call centres, tempting many women to opt for it. With her husband too doing night shifts, the social angle does not perturb Usha now. In fact, this is a pattern that has now emerged — that of both partners doing night shifts. What happens when she has a baby? "I haven't thought about it as yet," she says.

No vacancies

Says Radhika, another professional, "The management is generally understanding and responds favourably to our applications for transfers to day shifts when we get married or have a baby." But vacancies in day shifts are not that readily available. "I have seen a lot of women dropping out of night shift-based call centre jobs," she says.

Since call centres work round the clock and are perennially in need of manpower, today more and more women are seeing money at a younger age. "I was thrilled when I got my first pay cheque. I was just 19 then," says Anupama. It can be quite a thrill, but how do these women handle working through nights on a daily basis?

Forget Chetan Bhagat's moral take on call centres ("One Night @ The Call Centre") wherein he draws a parallel between them and Roman slave ships, manned by thousands who sacrifice their creativity for the sake of quick money. Working night shifts is hard on the biological self, to put it mildly.

The health aspect

Says Lakshmi, who works at a leading call centre, "I developed giddiness and high blood pressure after about a year of doing night shifts. I was diagnosed with hormonal imbalance. I opted for day shifts thereafter, but the problem became worse. So, I moved back to night shifts. There is really no solution in sight." Today, Lakshmi is on extended leave following the birth of her baby and says her health is much better now. She says, "Probably, the best strategy would be to take a long break from work to allow your body to get back its rhythm, and then move into day shifts."

Dr. Hema Thirunarayan, a physician, agrees. "Working night shifts continuously can be taxing. To put it simply, night shifts go against our natural cycles. Our harmones have diurnal variations — different levels at different times of the day. For instance, the action promoting corticosteroid harmones peaks during the day to power bodily functions and dips during the night. When you stay awake and active at night, the body gets confused, and an imbalance occurs in hormonal levels, causing disturbances in sleep and hunger patterns, irregular and painful periods and other serious consequences. The effects start showing within a month."

Most of the women are vulnerable to developing eating disorders too. Either they tend to eat too much or starve, something they should watch out for. Dr. Thirunarayan dissuades women from taking up night shifts, and if they have to, then not on a continued basis.

"Call centres should strategise and work out healthy solutions. They could rotate shifts as is done for intern doctors at hospitals, so that the women get to do day shifts and night shifts alternatively on a week-to-week basis," she says.

But unless women doing night shifts raise their voice in unison and make such a demand, they will not see the light of day.

(Names changed to protect privacy)

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