What's one night at the call centre
these days? Has the BPO bubble burst? Is young India feeling fatigued
by these jobs? Here's an interesting article in Times of India:
IT'S a story lost in translation. Yet, till sometime back, call
centres were about 'India Rising'. Every caller was being connected
to Ralph, Rosy and Rita in India. The sunrise industry had nightingales
working through the night.
It's the midnight hour in Gurgaon,
outside a call centre. A flush of activity signals a lifestyle
that's now getting jaded. It's a life lived on the edge. There's
a new Chemistry of Challenge. And only the fittest survive.
If
you're wondering, what's one night @ the call centre, these days,
we'll tell you, much has changed since Chetan Bhagat wrote his
book on the new sweatshop culture of
call
centres in India. So, here I am, trying to spend one night
@ the call centre. The crucial questions: has the bubble burst?
Is young India feeling fatigued by the call centre job? Why is
suddenly everyone looking down on working at a call centre?
The answers, my friend, aren't blowing in the wind. They are
right here. Meet Rachel Brooks, (her
real name, Rachna). Her target: To make 50 calls everyday. Her
personal life: Single, very messed up. Number of cigarettes smoked
daily: 15. Salary: Rs 25,000, after working for two years. Stress:
High. Work satisfaction: Low. Her aim: To quit this job by 2008.
Would Rachna recommend this line to anyone? "Maybe, for six months.
Just to get a feel. But this is not a profession. Your body gets
all messed up."
She's not the only one, there's Henry (Hari Sundaram), Peter (Pranav Mehta), Natasha (Natasha Kapoor). The list is endless. The midnight gossip, snacking and sex haven't helped. They're lone, singular voices echoing a fed up and stressed out emotion.
Interestingly, TIME magazine reports, India's college graduates
and young job seekers just aren't interested in working at call
centres. Flashback 2004: You either got a high-paying job
at a call centre or no job at all. Cut to 2007: Call
centre jobs are least priority jobs. Some colleges
in Delhi -- Sri Venkateswara College, Ramjas, Hansraj and
LSR - discourage call centre people coming to their colleges for
recruitment. Says Dr A Sankara Reddy, principal of Venkateswara
College, "The students aren't interested in call centres anymore.
There's no job satisfaction. No longer do big salaries alone lure
youngsters. The BPO culture and
lifestyle have led to disillusionment. Earlier, students were
running after these jobs, now BPOs are running after them. Also
youngsters have higher expectations. The story of Indian mind,
American accent is old. My college banned call centres from coming
to our campus."
Rajendra Prasad, principal of Ramjas College, agrees, "Students want a better job and lifestyle, they don't want to compromise. They want to be leaders with intellect and make money. It's a new awakening, they've just woken up to a new sense of power."
True. Forbes reports, call centre jobs in India, which
have limited job security and entail odd working hours, are losing
their sheen as new sectors like hospitality, aviation and retail
gain popularity. Says Payal Gogia (name changed), who works with
a leading consulting firm, "The bubble has burst. Youngsters are
no longer feeling empowered working with call centres. The freedom
and fun they experienced earlier isn't giving them a high now. They
don't mind exploring new talents - singing, dancing, retail, insurance.
Young India wants more security, it wants to flaunt its intellect."
Sleepless at a call centre isn't a great feeling anymore. When
asked top-notch call centre experts, BPO gurus, they denied this
'fatigue' feeling, saying emphatically 'everyone still wants to
work at a call centre'. Says guru of BPOs, Raman Roy, chairman
& MD of Quatrro, "We're outsourcing to the world. We're not hiring
from elite colleges. We're hiring from smaller towns."
This is a world of hi-tech lifestyles, facebook networking, job-hopping,
text-relationships, instant success, coupling over endless cups
of coffee and back-seat romping in SUVs, while being dropped back
from work. Says Deepak Kapur, founder of BPONews, "The lifestyles
are about making a choice. I don't think call centre jobs have
lost their lustre. They hold a great promise." That's something,
Vrinda Walavalkar, VP, FirstSource agrees, "We've got 12,000 people
working for us, we keep hiring. We give a great global environment
to work in."
That's the official story. The unofficial story is different.
It's about ambitions and dreams. It's about young Indians who
aren't satisfied within the call centre
environment anymore. Dr Kanika Khandelwal, professor of
psychology at LSR College agrees, "Today, there's a new confidence.
Youngsters want to achieve more. They want to empower themselves.
They aren't just excited by the glamorous, moneymaking call centre
jobs. The kids know there's stress, collar abuse and stagnation
if you stick around too long."
The disillusionment comes with a price. Fact is young Indians are engineering
their dreams more professionally. Says Sam Chopra, president, Business
Process Industry Association of India, "Youngsters come to us with
certain aspirations. Working at a call centre is about having a
vocation, not a career. If you want to be here for two or three
years, become confident, be groomed with a well-rounded personality,
patience and other skills - this is the place to be in. But, everyone
cannot move up. We've got a larger base at the bottom. This is a
great industry to get exposure in."
