Call Center and Outsourcing Jobs to Increase in 2006

A recent study by Unisys, a technology services and solutions company has predicted that call center and outsourcing jobs in India will continue to grow in 2006.

New measure taken by the various big players in the call center industry such as employee welfare, competitive wages and several other facilities will promote these outsourcing jobs in the year ahead.

In the recent years political pressure and influence has not brought to light the full benefits of these jobs. However, with the government realizing the large revenue and employment generated through these outsourcing jobs, there has been a considerable increase in the political support as well.

Several major players such as IBM and JP Morgan opening call centers in the country, there is bound to be a considerable increase in the jobs generated.

Revival of Indian Act Threatens Call Centers

The revival of a long forgotten law, banning women from working through the night has threatened the outsourcing market in India.

Today, women workers account for more than 40 percent of the call center work force. Important attributes required for working in a call center, such as politeness, patience, good convincing skills and a proper working knowledge of computers can be found abundantly in the urban women of India. It is therefore no surprise that women occupy several important positions such as team leaders and managers in Indian call centers. However, the revival of this law might have dire consequences on the growth and boom of the BPO industry.

The Labor Department of the State of Haryana has cited the Punjab Shops and Commercial Establishments Act of 1958, which forbids women from working night shifts. Notices have been sent out to several Gurgaon-based call centers with regards to the same.

Section 30 of the act mentions that ‘no woman shall be required or allowed to work, whether as an employee or otherwise, in any establishment during the night’. IT companies in the state of Haryana are exempted from this law. However, the state claims that call centers and not IT companies and hence the law should be applied.

Since India is a federal jurisdiction, the law won’t be applicable throughout the country and will differ from state to state. However, for cities like Gurgaon, which house several multinational call centers, the immediate future looks shaky. Although the law will not have a permanent effect on the growth of the call centers, it will hamper the boom in the industry.

The Accent Factor


Despite the acquired accent and alias being used in calls by call centres in India, the customers calling from overseas single out the Indians. It is the accent of these Indian call centre employees, which is the give away. They listen to the accent of their accent and want to know, where they are located. In fact, they seem to be aware that these call enter employees are not from the U.S.

Earlier these Indian call centre employees were supposed to hide their location, but now the company policy has changed and if the customer overseas inquires, the call centres in India disclose their identity and location.

Indian accent is easy to single out, but at the same time U.S. is a multicultural country having various accents itself. In U.S. itself the accent of a person residing in Georgia is so different from that in Pennsylvania that they do not react abruptly to the Indian accent, but the Indian intonations and jaw movements are so different from theirs that it is easy to identify an Indian call centre employee and therefore they want to know where do these call centre employees belong to.

While someone is focusing on neutralizing the accent, other is concentrating on a global accent. Thus there is no unanimity on the usage of accent in the call centre industry in India so far.

Jesmine

Call Center-The Forbidden Fruit


The lure of money is making youngsters drop out of college to take up jobs in the call centers. According to several parents, their children working in call centers blow money on the latest cars and cell phones, while they struggle to save money. Some youngsters working in these call centers project a kind of behaviour, which is shocking for some conservative Indian families. And though some of these young generation is very well aware of the fact that their family life, social life and health are getting affected, but they are ready to compromise and still want to stick by their call center jobs due to the monetary benefits.

These customer relations executives are part of the call center industry expected to employ more than one million people and account for $25 billion in exports by 2008. These call centers may well force a tradition bound country to rethink its age-old social conventions.

Jesmine

Public Dislike Overseas Call Centers

According to a new research, only 5% of people are happy to have their bank account serviced by an overseas call center. About 87% of people said that they would not be happy about having to speak to someone abroad about their account, while some 9% said they had no preference.

People’s main concern about call centers being moved abroad, was the threat to British jobs, with 82% citing this as a worry, while 78% were worried about having problems communicating.

Older people were more concerned about the call center exodus than younger ones, with 89% of over 50s saying they would not be happy if their bank moved its call center out of the U.K., compared with 80% of those under 30.

Just over half of those surveyed were concerned about the security of their personal information if they called a foreign call center, and 47% thought they would get a lower quality of service.

Jesmine

Call Centers Investing in Home Working

More call centers are gradually realizing that the best place to handle customer contacts maybe at agents’ home. Call centers are increasingly developing and investing in home working either with their own employees or by hiring outsourcers that employ home workers or that recruit self employed home agents.

More companies are realizing the value of home working compared with traditional outsourcing. These self-employed home outsourcers generally have better skills than what brick and mortar call centers can typically attract within commuting distance. These are agents who are available when clients need them. In some instances, the lower costs and greater flexibility have allowed companies to provide better customer service.

Jesmine

Indian Call Centers Pose A Challenge To UK Call Centers


A report published by Trade Secretary Patrica Hewitt revealed that call centers in Britain must improve their image. The reason being that the trend towards outsourcing jobs overseas could be accelerated, because countries such as India are overtaking Britain in IT skills.

The report predicts call center jobs nationally would increase by 25 percent over the next three years. But it follows a wave of concern that jobs are being lost overseas, where wages are much lower. The report states that the call center industry now stands at a critical point in its development.

The report further states that India is able to supply a large number of qualified graduates for complex IT help desk functions. In fact, in some areas their expertise may exceed that which would be available to a UK based call center.

Jesmine

Indian Cultural Identity Under Threat

The current BPO boom has left no stone unturned to make businesses more competitive. Apart from this, the influx of high paying jobs appeared to be a cherry on the cake. But the minus point that has accompanied this development is making our society pay an enormous price.

Starting with Indians acquiring American accents and studying their customs to work in call centers, they are now turning into Americans themselves. These call center and customer support workers have trained so hard to act American on the telephone, that they have essentially become Americans. The Indian Prime Minister laments, “ It is as if we suddenly had a huge influx of American immigrants”.

The Americanized call center workers have been demanding reduced schedules which are closer to the typical 40 hour American work week. These call center employees have also fuelled a sharp rise in fast food outlets and litigation. In fact, they are now Americans. Thus if this situation continues, India will very soon be on the verge of losing its cultural identity.

Jesmine

The Difference of Training and Learning


Training and learning are not the same. Learning is what you do throughout your life and training is something you do to become proficient at a skill or at your job. The training, which is provided to agents in the call centers, reflects what the client wants these agents to do. If the goal is to ensure whether new hires can handle calls, then displaying the training manual on the Internet isn’t enough. Callcenter agents need the experience of working with people through role playing, coaching during live calls and receiving evaluations of recording of calls.

But training requirements in call centers haven’t fit neatly within certain prescribed categories. During a time when it seems that call centers are competing with each other to employ the lowest paid staff, the question is not what training agents need, infact, the question is why agents need training at all.

Besides helping callcenter agents understand how to do their jobs better, training tools are actually required to provide guidance to those who coach agents as well. Coaching has become an important complement to training, as it occurs while agents communicate with customers, rather than afterwards.

Jesmine

‘Call Centre & Health Problems’- Dark side of the shiny coin


It’s 11 in the night and their day has begun! No, they are not heading for a party. They are heading for their respective call centers, the latest working hub of our Indian youth. Lucrative money, plush offices, working for companies in the U.S. and U.K., are the things, which make these call centers a major hit with the young generation across the country. However, long hours of work, permanent night shifts, high work targets to achieve and irregular mealtimes are posing a lot of health problems for these youth.

Burn Out Syndrome or BOSS syndrome is seen very commonly among young people working in cal centers. The symptoms of this syndrome include chronic fatigue, insomnia and complete alteration of 24-hour biological rhythm of the body. Gastro-intestinal problems are inevitable for those working at nights, as the body is under chronic stress.

Although most of these cases do not require medication, guidance about physical and mental coordination to meet the demands of a call center job is necessary. While good money, weekend parties, bubblegum culture and ultramodern décor of the call centers does lend a glamorous image, it is certainly not easy to adjust to their work culture, is what is the version of those in the industry.

Jesmine

Call center services providers thrive

Call Center service providers are having it good. With so many 500 fortune companies coming in to India, Call Center service providershave the opportunity to work with so many reputed brands.

Call Center service providers like daksh, exl,msource etc, are recruiting in large numbers to shorten the gap between demand and supply. And also because that the Call Centers have a high attrition rate.

To stop this high attrition rate, Call Center service providers have put in place so many facilities like gym,canteen, study room etc for its staff. Now the Call Center service providers have started to offer management courses for its staff. May be such moves will stop the high attrition rate in the industry.

Threat of Call Center jobs moving to India: An issue unnecessarily overrated

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The big hue and cry by people abroad over the multinationals moving their Call Center services to India is absolutely not needed. A study by the London based research firm put aside all such fears when it predicted that only a paltry 5% of the 4.78 million call center jobs worldwide will be located Offshore.

The fear has been instilled in Europe and US after a number of big firms started relocating their Call Center Services to countries like India and other low-wage markets. Firms like Dell, ebookers etc have already moved their Call Center Services to India, on the account of saving on the operating costs, and supposedly more firms are in the fray.

But the new study shows the Call Center Services market in a totally different light. According to Datamonitor, 241,100 agent positions will be located offshore in 2007. That number represents 5 percent of the total global Call Center market, which will have grown to 4.78 million agent positions by 2007.

However, it’s not just India, which is looking to gobble up the full Call Center Services market pie. There are other contenders too, who have an equally good chance of becoming the preferred Call Center Services provider. There is Mexico, South Africa, and Malaysia, which, are becoming among the leading Call Center Services locations. They will in fact eat up the share of the Indian and Philippines market, whose share of the offshore market will drop to 64% in 2007 compared to being 70% in 2002.


This shift in trend is due to the fact that firms are witnessing an excessive demand for non-English languages and is the global Outsourcing portfolio by opening Call Center Services in different locations. It expected that Mexico will experience massive growth in the number of Call Center agent positions serving offshore markets, primarily the US. The report also noted that firms are seeing increasing demand for non-English-language services and are balancing their global outsourcing portfolio with Call Centers in different geographical locations.

Call Center Services are increasing day by day in India

Software bigwig Hewlett Packard has set up its Call Center Services in India. It’s setting up this Call Center Service in India to cater to its North American consumer market. This will be HP’s first Call Center in India for the American market.

This HP’s Call Center Service in India will be in addition to three to four third party service providers. Digital GlobalSoft, Daksh eServices and VServe will provide the Call Center Services in India, serving with a capacity of about 1000 seats which will be assisted by the upcoming HP Call Center in Bangalore with about 500 to 600 seats.

Call Center Services India staff are right up there, says UK firm

Lots of the clients have praised the staff of Call Center Services India. Now another satisfied client showers praises on the Call Center Services India. In fact they have gone as far, so as to say that they are doing a much better job then what their UK counterparts are doing. This statement comes as a slap on the face of all the people who doubted India’s capabilities.

National Rail Inquiries chief executive Chris Scoggins told British Members of Parliament that at least 50 per cent of future inquiries could soon be answered from India. He also added that the quality of the Call Center Services India is equally good, if not better in some of the cases.

Although the staff of the Call Center Services in India is paid one-sixth of what their UK counterparts earn, the Call Center work in India attracts very top quality staff. Although the clients say so, there are a few complaints from the customers. But the company spokesperson said that customers are getting good service, but they are bugged up only because local jobs are moving to India. And he also emphasized the fact that, by Outsourcing services to Call Center Services India, they would be saving an estimated ₤25 million over a period of five years.

Training institutes required for churning out qualified staff for Call Center Services

Call Center Services, India is booming, but it is short of the right kind of employees. And hence the high attrition rate. Now a Delhi based training company, NetSpace Communications is all set up five training centers to train the workers of the Call Center Services, in India.

There is a great demand for agents to work in Call Center Services,India, but the supply is low and is not up to the mark. And so training is crucial, because out of 100 people who apply for a Call Center Services job, only 5 get selected.

The course will have three modules: basic, intermediate and advanced. Costing approximately around Rs 20,000, the entire course will span 180 hours. There is good demand for staff who can handle Call Centers for overseas clients, as the domestic market for such services is yet to pick up.

Call Center Services , India providers charting their own success stories

Call Center Services providers in India are a happy lot. With so many multinationals wanting to Outsource, Call Center Services , India are having a great time of it. They operate out of nice and classy looking offices, mostly situated on the outskirts of the city, because the land rates are cheaper there. With lots of capital investment in hand they manage to build huge offices with all the facilities on the premises itself. They have in-house gyms, recreation rooms, cafes, canteens etc.

Call Center Services , India providers don’t have to worry about getting staff as well. After all India produces millions of graduates each year, who are more than willing to work at a salary which is one-fourth of their US or UK counterparts. Because it is higher according to the Indian standards. So they get cheap manpower, which is extremely well educated, is English speaking and computer savvy. In fact most of them are engineers and other technical background staff. Call Center Services in India don’t even have to worry about the high attrition rates of 30-40%, because for every one person that goes out two people are waiting in the pipeline to be absorbed. For the salary that the Call Center Services providers in India pay to their employees, they get around 8 hrs of work shifts out of them and plus there are night shifts once in a while.

Even after there being so many players, vis-à-vis, EXL, MSource, Convergys, Vertex, Perot Systems, Accenture, WNS, GE Caps, and a host of other Call Center Services providers in India, everybody is surviving and doing well. Everybody has their own fair share of clients and are getting good business out of them.

It’s a woman’s world in the Call Center Services India

Call Center Services have created employment opportunities in general, but it is true that the woman population in the Call Center Services India is growing. There is a growing trend amongst women to join Call Center Services India.

Tracmail, which is a five-year-old Call Center Service center, employs 2,000 people at its Navi Mumbai office, out of which, 45% percent of the employees are women. At another Call Center Service center, 24*7, the percent of women employees has increased from 25% to 40% in the last two years. The average strength of female staff in India’s $1.4 billion (Rs 6,650 crore) Call Center Service industry ranges between 30 and 60 per cent.

The one question that everybody is curious to know is, why women join this industry and why are the Call Center Services India industry hiring them. One of the main reasons that is apparent is that they can start young, and plus they can save some money as food is subsidized and there is a pick and drop facility available to the staff. And the reason why Call Center Services India industry is hiring them is Call Centers plainly believe that women are better suited to voice-based projects and women seem to have better communication skills.

Still, India trails behind the US where Call Centers have nearly 90 per cent women on their rosters. But even then the women are increasing at Call Center Services India and the trend is likely to continue.

US based IT company eFunds boosts infrastructure of its Mumbai Call Center

It was one of the first to take the bold move of having an Offshore Call Center in India, and it worked. Efunds will now have a total of 2,900 people employed in its Call Center across its three centers in India. It has now decided to expand its Mumbai based Call Center capacity by 200 seats.

Efunds Corporation, which provides Call Center services to clients in US and UK-based in the financial services, retail and telecommunication sectors, Outsources close to 90 per cent of its work to India and only 10 per cent is done onshore in the US.

According to recent reports, the Indian Call Center industry is expected to grow by an astounding 68 per cent in the next 12 months to touch 1.58 lakh seats, overtaking Australia to become the largest Call Center country across Asia in 2004. This is some wonderful news for the already booming Indian Call Center industry.

Call Center service providers operate out of swanky offices

With the money that the multinationals save by not opening Call Centers abroad; is utilized by them in making fully equipped, classy offices in the countries where they Outsource from.

Most of the Call Centers are situated on the outskirts of the city. These Call Centers are situated almost all over India including places like Chennai, Bangalore, Gurgaon, and Noida etc.

The only glitch one faces while working in Call Centers though is working in odd hours, mostly in night shifts. And that could take a long time to get used. Otherwise life in a Call Center never has a dull moment.

With the rate at which the Call Centers in India are rising, it might not be surprising that it will be the leading employer and will create lots of work opportunities for the unemployed..

Call Center Service providers are having it good

Call Center Service providers had a great time in 2003, and 2004 is poised for a much better period.

Call Center Service providers such as Daksh, Msource, Convergys, Exl, Wns, etc are constantly adding clients to their portfolio. It’s amazing that, even after there being so many players, everybody has a fair chunk of the profits.

Call Center Service providers have a stringent selection procedure, spanning over 5 to 6 rounds of interview. Only after this tedious process do they select a candidate. It is very surprising that, out a 100 candidates who appear for an interview, only about 5 candidates are selected. Most of the training that they provide is in house, which could be for a period for as long as 2- months.