Well, I myself working in a call centre here in Australia with nice colorful and relax environment. Everyday I wake up to get to the job, as I love to be there with my colleagues. I understand in India the time difference is a major issue with this kind of job & it's especially hard to talk to someone till late night everyday. But think of the job of a security guard, well I believe this job is much better as u still working while sitting in your chair without any fear. With such a huge population its impossible for everyone to have nice white color job in India, and call centre industry is the best option for the intelligent Indian young generation to start off with. So I do not agree at all with the article!!
try to publish positive responses also if u have, as far as call centre jobs are concerned 'cos i have never heard from my friends that it is as difficult as has been published in this column quite often.
Yes it is true. Though we think that BPO and call center industry gave an oppurtunity for youngsters to earn it is spoiling their lives. They are not able to live their life. Some work policies like how many hours people should work should be made for this industry. I know people who are working for 12 - 13 hours a day/night.
I am not at all surprised as I had anticipated this scenario 4 years back as an HR Manager of an MNC firm,as usual the Indian IT (Pseudo)intellectuals (sic)scoffed at me.
RE:Call Center
by T.Basu on Sep 30, 2005 01:30 AM Permalink
Hey Tina, Ur comment about call center is no nonsense.I am in call center and I know the pressure one has 2 face...anyway its apart of the game.
I too worked in a call centre for some yrs and trust me its not a bed of roses. i totally agree with wht the guy sd in his article.one should really stay away from the call centres.one tends to lose control over body due to the odd timings n ppl tend to put on lots of weight too as thy develop odd eating n sleeping habits.The pressure is too mch as the motto of the call centres is jst to mint money and they r least bothered abt the health of their employees.its sad but true.I had really suffered bad health n had lots of work pressure cos of which i decided to quit.To be honest its really not advisable to wrk in call cntre n any day its bttr to settle for a bttr job without shifts n without such tremendous pressure whr we can atleast breathe n not feel guilty. call centres lure youngsters with good pay packages but in return ruin their peace, health and their existence.so guys if ur ready to give up all that thn surely u can join the bandwagon n thn forget to live.
OK well, whoever this Name-Changed Mr. Subhash Mukherjee is from Kolkatta, I would first of all like to express my deep sympathies for undergoing through all the brutalities of this job. Although things can get very competitive in a call-center, since I work with one for almost 4 years now, I think that in Mr Mukherjee's case, it's clearly a case of a brutal Employer with ridiculously in-human HR Policies that need to be complained and changed for good. There seems to be no human touch to the work culture in that organization. Yes night shifts can be real tough and sometimes those may just not suit a particular individual's body. Nothing wrong with that. But doesn't any job have it's own physical and / or mental challenges ?? Sometimes some jobs are just not for someone. Physical stress is there even for a Neuro-Surgeon or a Marketer who roams in Mumbai's street trying to sell credit cards or Personal Loans.
We just need to find the right suitable job for ourselves. Sometimes we are fortunate to get one and sometimes not. But if someone is making life hell for good, hard-working people, it's time to get their act in place..
If missed calls show on the machine wonder how HDFC call centers manage becos though they call it a 24 hour service nobody attends the calls between 7pm to 7 am in Delhi. Not only that even the voice message stops after exactly 73 seconds if the lines are busy and one does not even know if the call is active or not. So maybe Mukherjee too should join HDFC call center and everyday can sleep in the office between 7 pm to 7 am :-) and also earn Rs.7500/- for same. IF the BPO workers go through a nightmare so do the customers getting through the customer service. One has better chances of winning a speculation game by continuously playing for 30 minutes than trying to get through HDFC customer service number!!!
Whatever Subhash has described is partly correct. Even the undersigned has more than 5 years experience in BPO sector working in leading MNCs for both inbound and outbound calls ranging from Collections to high-end Technical Support.
No doubt the job is strenous and sometimes it becomes extremely demanding with the kind of monitoring process these call centres have. But one cannot ignore the kind of experience, exposure and money one earns working in these organisations. And above all, the brand name of the company does matter with the kind of facilities they provide for their employees.
It is the policies and procedures the company practices that affect the employees' personal life. The companies should provide proper work-life balance for their employees apart from money and incentives. Afterall, everyone knows that money talks !
With the re-election of George Bush as US president, we can expect a BPO boom in India which would open many scopes in India. The present generation has to be prepared to cope with the challenge as opportunity doesn't come always.
I'd like to share a saying of Jack Welch (former CEO of GE) "Control your destiny or someone else will."
RE:Control your destiny or someone else will
by Amar on Oct 26, 2005 05:39 PM Permalink
Kolkota call centers will faces these kind of challenges at sometime now or later unless the whole communist attitude is put aside and life is faced a realit by each individual...c'mon the whole world has been doing this work for decades now...I think its simple if you dont like it..leave it..
