One night at a call center - I

"One night at a call center" - thats the title of Chetan Bhagats new book.
"Chetan Bhagat" - BE (IIT Delhi) PGDM (IIM Ahmedabad) , Investment banker, author of "Five Point Someone"
"Five Point Someone" - A hardhitting story about grades, peer-pressure , success, love ,expectation, and achievement set in an IIT.

Now about Chetan's new book....I was expecting something straight out of an IIM (Logical ?)
But its not about an IIM. Its a story set in one of India's call centers.

Have I read this new book ? No (I did read the prologue though)
Am i gonna read it (Probably ..Yes)
Am i going to review it ? Def. NO .. this blog isn't for that.

Still remember the day, i stepped into one of these places.
For millions of Indians, this is the one way they get to earn some cash, after "just a degree"
OR a way to scrape a living and send some cash back home OR a way to party OR a place to hang around till the job/admission/interview/transfer/passport/visa/groom comes around.

Row upon row of comfy ergonomic chairs. Sleek desktops. the latest Cisco IP Phones. Banners and streamers everywhere.. (it was the boss' birthday)
I glance at my watch. 11pm.Start of a new shift.
The employees trickle in.... Guys , girls everybody.....Fun seemed high in the agenda.
An hour later , the floor was in flow.....The smokers bay was thick with smoke. Every now and then, the coffee breaks would come and go.
Eight hours, and literally thousands of phone calls later, it was time for the future of India to be packed into a fleet of SUVs and driven straight home.

It is a fact that the Call-center industry has taken off in India. This trend of [art of the greater outsourcing story.New call-centers with thousands of seats, spring up and provide sought after jobs to millions of young men and women.
However on one side these call centers are touted as an answer to India's massive unemployment problem, they also struggle with unemployment rates (almost 30% annual.) Company's spend huge resources hiring and training new recruits (theres NEVER a short supply of youngsters here)

Let me try and answer the following -
1. Why have call centers mushroomed ?
2. Why is the profession looked down upon ? (Despite the evalueserve ad)
3. Why is the attrition rate high ?
4. Is it a fad? Can one stake ones career on it?
5. Career growth in this highly labor intensive industry
6. Possible roadblocks

1. Call centers operate on the cost differential between the foreign country (generally the US) and India. In the US, call centre jobs are located generally in the mid-west. Calls are handled by Housewives, students and the retired (generally to supplement their income)
The minimum wage in the US is (I think) $3 per hour. That's 140 Indian rupees. That's Rs.11 20 a day or around 28000 a month. Call center jobs are not sought after and in a labor scarce country like the US, manning call centers is a nightmare.
The situation in India is different. A large pool of English speaking youngsters. Will to work nights for as little as INR 8000 a month.And to top that , for the masses in India, call center jobs are sought after (since it pays)
Any company which outsources calls to India gains a HUGE cost advantage. The quality of service provided by Indian call centers is comparable to the US ones (with pseudonyms and accents , quite the norm). The company also spares itself the headache of staffing and maintaining a call-center.
Also i must mention that the connectivity of India with the rest of the world has improved tremendously over the last few years. Costs however remain high on this front.

2. India is typically a society where intelligence and uniqueness are heavily valued.
Hence the craze for engineering, law, medicine, management and other "intellectual" professions has not abated even in the least. Call center employees are considered menial, because of the perception that their work does not involve any "Skill"
Further there is also the perception , that a career in a call center is for the so-called underachievers in society.Hence the bias.

More in my next post ....