This perhaps is not the only industry that has such problems take Indian Railways for instance, the shifts start at 00:00 hrs. and after working for say 7-14 days the shift changes for the employees, and now the person who was working from 00:00 hrs. to 08:00 hrs. works in the shift of 08:00 hrs. to 16:00 hrs. Does it not affect the bioligical clock thing? If we are so concerned about the Indian Humans, are we really thinking abt. the rickshaw pullers who work in rains, bad roads, unhygienic conditions and what not just to pull another indian human who could walk anyway. There are a few bpo companies which we know where the CEO eats the same food that his employees do, sitting together. Don't they (the CEOs) fall sick working maybe 18 hrs. a day?
This is a very balanced article.While no one wants youths to roam unemployed and jobless at the same time no one wants number of handicapped youth to go up in India.BPO industry needs to function under controls and needs to provide for employee welfare.Just as the industries did not close down after passing of labour welfare laws , so also the BPO will be unaffected if some measures for workers of BPO units are made.
If Call center Brings health problem,can definitely be solved by regular excercise. What writter overlooked is the employement to thousands of unemployed people.
All call centre workers remember one fact that money can be earned through different jobs but health once gone cannot be earned through money. Easier said than done but this is also a fact of life.
hi The article is really good. BPO's set up by the MNC's do provide us with good employment oppurtunities and good salary, but one thing to be noted is that, they gain and dont lose. They get cheap labour out of the developing countries at the risk of the nation's best work force - the youth. The shifts are not implemented in every BPO units. Only a handful of organisations stick to the 8 hrs of work in shift basis. some organisations have only one shift from say 11:00 am till 2:00 pm, they need to complete their work and then leave their desks... and worse for the team leaders, who need to spead atleast two hours more than the others. Managers always tend to say the working...... "we believe in worklife balance" but hardly it happens. We can always adapt ourselves to work in different shifts and introduction of shifts on rotation basis is even wiser. Management gurus have to do something with an humanitarian approach. Money is necessary but it is not the all. It is time that some better changes come over our BPO structure of working.
It is indeed shocking for me, after learning that the Indian youth working in the so called BPO'S and call centre's are at a higher risk of getting all possible health problems by a weird work routine.But as many people have voiced out the truth of ever increasing numbers of jobless people, I strongly think that it is high time that the MNC's should care for the employees and come up with flexible routine's to relieve the workers from excess burden rather then just think about their clients in the west.
The IT & ITES industry segments proudly boast of working on a 24X7 basis. The consequeces in terms of social life and health problems have started getting attention only now. The solutions have still to be brought into play.
One place where they may probably get a solution is the Indian Railways with 12 lakh staff members who work on a 24X7 basis with absolutely no fuss. We expect them to do so all the time.
The article is definately one that has to be given a veryu serious thought about, unfortunately most of the youth today think that getting immidiate employment is the more important issue, they are not thinking long term when the very same work patterns are going to be detrimental to their lives. God save them!!! yes the BPO's are definately getting good revenue and giving employment, but at the same time it is destroying a whole generation of energetic people whose body are forced to go against the basic laws of nature , due to their odd work hours. People in high places will definately not care the least (eg: Narayana Murthy and the like) as they very well know that they are themselves contributing to the slow degradation. Only time will tell the young happy guys and girls who are working in BPOS that it might not have made their lives any better, except for the beginning 1 or 2 years. God save u guys!!!
