I am employed with an BPO . The concerns which writer mention here is vmuch releavent . But Ifs and buts are every where its upto u .
Health and social life is the major concern not only for BPO employess but for other professionals who needs to perform 24X7 work culture ie defense services , madical , media , trasport , police and many more .
The advantage which BPO employess are having is 5 days a week which is not available in other profession in India .
In a nutshel Its all up to the indivisual how he manages his time and health .
Any job has its own risks and hazards. Instead of viewing BPO in its correct perspective, the author is trying to mislead readers. We cannot forget that India lands 1/8th of world's population and BPO helps to earn bread for a small but considerable number of its graduates. It is sad to say that the author tries to kill the morale of those youths who make a living though BPO and conveniently forgets the fact that BPO assists development of othe local industries like real estate, hotel and like.
I know that the Call centers have to work a lot during odd hrs, but this kind of problem is not restricted to Call centers. Many companies have established offices all over the world. and because of this globalization of services some one or the other has to stay late, or works odd hrs. (Meetings are held at 1AM!!!)
But some companies (major ones) have put in effort to rotate meeting times so the brunt is not on a certain set of people.
But, not matter how hard they try, long working hrs and odd working hrs do have an impact on the performance. Eventually there will be an era of people who will suffer the same problematic symptoms, physical and psychological.
Gives a good insight into what the heck goes on. I amsurprised to see a few individuals appreciative of the MNCs rather than trying to understand the problem.
Let us not miss the whole picture, Western/ white countries would never treat us equal, make fools of us as there are so many middle men willing to harm the local for their personal gains. Lets list a few observations:
1. Look at the purspose f UN and who dominate it.
2. Westerm media tries to portray only routine and low level jobs are going to India/ China. Creative and good jobs stay here.
3. Many average have pride in working for MNCs, why not indian companies ? What is so great about MNCs ? Coke, Pepsi, .. are MNCs.
4. Look at the kind of crap west throws at us, failed models of electronic goods, thrown out PCs for dumping, ... We are fools, they play with our immature democracy and foolish average man.
Accept the fact, we are dying for food/ money, they throw it to us to do junk jobs.
Author has no idea about other workforce engaged in 24X7 manufacturing units.I am working in Steel industry for the last 18 years, doing rotating shift duty in a atmosphere one can really think about.Heat, sound & dust pollutions are common in our industry, although regular monitoring & preventions work goes hand in hand. Also we have adopted different living practices to cope with the occupational hazards.Similarly BPO workforce should adopt new living practices to overcome occupational hazards. More over value of bread & butter surpasses all occupational hazards. I should humbly ask the author to name an industry which is totally free of it's occupational hazards. Giving a sermon is easier than to practice it. BPO force are doing continous night shift so they should adopt stringent practices to overcome hazards.
First off, the writer has mentioned a lot of sensible stuff in this article. But then there is also the practicality aspect to be looked into. Yes, working in such conditions can be degrading. At the same time it is doing good to the country by providing employment to thousands of people. Its like the rose which is a sweet fragrant flower, but also has thorns. Nothing and nobody is perfect. In life we will come across both good and evil. Its up to us to make the best out of the situation.
Just to digress from this topic, it looks like young Indian girls are contempt doing item numbers in films and shedding whatever little clothes they have on them while on the other hand the sharapova's, the Kuznetsova's are taking the world by storm by their diligence , skill and hardwork.I really feel pity at the girls doing these item numbers for cheap publicity.
I feel that everything is good abt BPOs except for the long working and travelling hours. This makes one feel very exploited. It would be a good career if people can work 8 hrs and then can go home and have a life. It does add glamour to life in the sense that it gives you money to be glamourous, go out, shop, eat out, etc. But usually this is only on off days as on a typical working day one can just thank god if one gets 6-7 hrs of sleep. Social life suffers a lot as we are asleep all day and wake up only to go to office, cant meet anyone except our colleagues.
