Call Centre Agents or Cyber Coolies

Published on February 2017 | Categories: Documents | Downloads: 30 | Comments: 0 | Views: 119
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Activity-Group Discussion
Name of the trainer: M.A.V.S.N. Swamy, MBA, MA, PGD !"!#$%&,
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(a'' (entre A)ents or (y*er (oo'ies
India has come a long way since independence from colonial rule in 1947. Quite literally, we have grown from a nation of 30 crores then, to 1.04 illion in !00". #aturally, the population e$plosion has drastically retarded the pace of development. %he &ourney of such a densely populated nation cannot e free from economic crises. 'ac( of ade)uate resources and sufficient employment opportunities have forced the masses to live under crushing poverty and su human conditions. %his is not the first time that unemployment has reared its ungainly head. *owever, employment opportunities have also shrun( amongst the ur an, educated youth ecause of a free+e on recruitment y the esta lishment in ur an areas and an increased dependence on technology. ,t a time when the unemployment pro lem was ac)uiring humungous proportions, the -est and especially the ./ 0impressed y the economic reforms initiated y then finance minister 1anmohan /ingh in the early and mid nineties2 decided to tap this tremendous human resource y outsourcing &o s to India. India offered two principal advantages over any other ,sian country. %han(s to its colonial history, it has a huge 3nglish spea(ing population that will render its services for a trifle as compared to the developed nations in the -est. 4nce the destination was identified, ./ Incorporated, perennially loo(ing to cut costs, egan its agenda of usiness process outsourcing to third parties in India. ,s the concept gained momentum, many conglomerates also set up their own 564 units here. , report su mitted y #asscom in ,pril !00" estimates that the 564 industry employed !,"0,000 people in 78 !004 and would add a wor( force of another 1,00,000 in 78 !00". -hile many (inds of &o s have een outsourced to India ran(ing from accounting to editing, ma&ority of outsourcing is for voice9 ased processes 0that re)uiring answering calls or ma(ing calls to foreign customers2. /ince most of the customers eing served from India live overseas, process operations are run !4$7, and in shifts. :all :entres, as the contact centres are etter (nown, employ agents who have to wor( at odd hours. %hey have to stand racial a use and e efficient despite eing ver ally roughed up. ,lthough call centre &o s are low9tech and do not need e$tremely )ualified people, many educated people are now a dicating their professions to ma(e a fast uc( wor(ing as call centre e$ecutives. 5right students are dropping out of college &ust to wor( at a near y call centre. In cities that are call centre hu , higher education has definitely ta(en a eating. :all :entres have thus succeeded in creating armies of servile Indians devoid of self9respect, whose only am ition is to please a white customer, ran( high on )uality and earn the ma$imum incentive. %he urge to serve, rather than rule, is getting solidly inscri ed into their

;#,. Indians are eing trained to ecome cy er coolies, serving foreign nationals in their own language and accent. %he west has also used to 564 industry to oost consumerism in the country. %he young crowd in call centres are using their salaries to uy mo ile phones, cosmetics, and other electronic gadgets manufactured in western countries and this has generated a craving for products of western origin. , lion<s share of the e$tra money pushed in, thus, also gets repatriated. %he contri utions of 564s to the Indian economy are meagre, if not negligi le. #evertheless, 564s can e credited with alleviating the unemployment pro lem in ur an areas. ,ny ody, irrespective of his educational level, with a faint familiarity with computers and fluent in 3nglish can now get employed. Individuals who would never have imagined going eyond e(ing out a living are now ecoming upwardly mo ile. %here are stories galore of slum9dwelling families having moved into etter ha itations after one of the mem ers got a &o with a call centre. /i lings who would have had to discontinue their education due to financial constraints, now have the option to study further. ,t least, one Indian has the privilege of studying further for every Indian who did not and had to e satisfied with a &o at a call centre. ,t a more macro9level, call centres facing high employee attrition rates are going all out to (eep them happy. =arious employee welfare schemes, coupled with high standards I health and hygiene are setting precedents for other Indian industries. 3ven as the de ates of western stooge versus economic development rages, an increasing num er of 564s are setting up operations in India. -hile the pundits may love to pontificate, it is certain that call centres will gain in popularity till proper employment opportunities emerge in the country. Intellectualism, li(e actualisation, does not thrive on an empty stomach.

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