BPOs Cutting Costs, Staff Unhappy
By Muntazir Abbas
Delhi, Aug 14, 2008

The growth story of the BPO industry in India is no longer a fairytale. Gone are the days of lucrative perks and previously unheard of amenities. Reality is fast catching up and major BPOs in NCR seem to be in a ruthless cost-cutting mood.

Take the case of BPO's in the National Capital Region (NCR) that houses numerous international and domestic BPOs and has grown into a large BPO hub in India. In several call centers AC cabs for transportation, lucrative appraisals, free meals and periodical cocktail parties are things of the past.

Says a senior executive working with IBM-Daksh, on condition of anonymity, "Our organization has not granted us the annual increment this time, due to their cost-cutting concerns."

Some, however, have a different view on the situation. Mohor Basu, former manager with IBM-Daksh feels that the cost-cutting can be justified on a number of counts. "The major reason, however, is the rise in rupee that has hurt the BPO finances", he adds.

However, what the employees seem to be lamenting more is the alleged ignoring of more basic concerns of security and employee welfare. Employees allege that as part of their cost-cutting operations, some noted BPOs in the region are overlooking employees' personal safety and security.

"Instead of home pick-up and drop through dedicated cab, we were asked to board a bus that only had some common stops", says Shazli Hasan, who worked with WNS Global Services and has recently joined Intelenet in Delhi.

"The situation had become so worse that the company had removed basic toiletries and started using money-saving tactics increasingly," added Shazli.

Followed by a rape and murder of a BPOite in Bangalore, several call centers had allocated security guards during pick-and-drop of women staff. However, only a handful of them follow that today, allege BPO employees.

"If this kind of sloppy situation persists, then most of us may change our preferences" says Mannu Singh, a BPOite working in an international call center in New Delhi.

However, against the backdrop of several call centers retrenching a large number of their employees recently, switching employers might seem to be easier said than done.


Related Links:

BPOs Tap Domestic Geographies to Expand