Something to think of in our global economy

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From Yahoo.

13,000.00 India Rupee = 288.280 USD United States Dollars

As of today 6/10/2004

1 India Rupee = 0.0221754 USD 1 USD = 45.0950 INR

Call Centers Fuel Social Change in Traditional India

Wed Jun 9, 8:26 AM ET

By Maria Abraham

BOMBAY, India (Reuters) - Cranky U.S. talk-show hosts, John Kerry (news - web sites) and powerful British union leaders have all had their say. Now it's the turn of a Catholic priest in India's money capital, Bombay.

Reuters Photo

Outsourcing has a new critic.

From a church pulpit in a middle-class suburb one sultry Sunday morning, Father K.T. Emmanuel spelled out the biggest danger facing the city's young men and women: call centers.

In the congregation were scores of 20-somethings who spend their nights fielding calls from the customers of U.S. multinational giants such as General Electric and Time Warner.

"The lure of money is making youngsters drop out of college to take up call-center jobs," Emmanuel said in his sermon.

"They blow money on the latest cars and cell phones, while their middle-class parents struggle to save money," he added, as several parents nodded vigorously in agreement.

At a Bombay call center at about 1 a.m., 21-year-old Reema darts out of work during a break to share a smoke with her male colleagues, looking forward to a late night out at a disco -- all shocking behavior for some conservative Indians.

"My family life, social life, health ... Everything is screwed up because I work nights," she said. "But the money is so good that I'm willing to compromise."

These Indian "customer relations executives" (CREs) are part of an outsourcing industry expected to employ more than one million people and account for $25 billion in exports by 2008.

They may well force a tradition-bound country to rethink its age-old social mores.

"In this age of globalization, where young women step out of homes to work at night, the attitude of Indian society will have to change," said sociologist Myrtle Barse. "Otherwise, it will lead to plenty of conflict between the generations."

The change has already fueled a conflict half-way across the globe. After a U.S. political backlash, it has become a prominent issue in the presidential campaign. In Britain, bank and telecoms unions have led fierce protests against jobs going to India.

But four-fifths of the world's 500 largest companies already outsource some work to India. With so many English speakers and 1.5 million university graduates each year, it makes sense for Western companies seeking new ways to cut costs.

WANT TO BREAK FREE

Graduates entering the industry earn between 8,000 and 10,000 rupees ($175 to $220) a month, only a tenth of their U.S. counterparts, but a decent sum in a country where the average annual income is about $500.

So each night, while the rest of India is fast asleep, thousands of young men and women wearing headsets talk to customers around the world in call centers in New Delhi, Bangalore and Pune. Most are hip dressers and drink in pubs until dawn after their shifts.

"Youngsters in call centers have big spending power and this gives them the sort of independence young people in India usually do not have," said psychiatrist Anjali Chhabria.

Reuben Fernandes, 20, earns 13,000 rupees a month, and says he will settle for nothing but the best. His shopping list includes the latest mobile telephone, a car and the best liquor.

"And now, I want to live on my own," he said firmly.

This is rebellious talk in India, where the family is considered the bedrock of society and young people are often expected to live with their parents until they get married.

"Indian parents tend to be doting and demanding," said 23-year-old Lakshmi, who works in a call center in the country's technology hub, Bangalore. "Parents threaten to commit suicide or jump off buildings, but in the end they come around."

Call-center bosses insist their offices are hardly hotbeds of revolution. "Software and back-office centers have brought in a world-class approach to work in India," said Raju Bhatnagar, chief operating officer of ICICI OneSource, part of financial services giant ICICI Group.

DON'T NEED NO EDUCATION

But for students barely out of their teens, the money is great, so many wonder why they should "waste time" getting a university degree.

"No other job in India offers this kind of money to graduates and undergraduates fresh out of college," said Harmeet Singh, a 23-year-old car-owner whose father has never owned a vehicle.

Middle-class Indians have traditionally scrimped and saved for decades to send their children to the best universities, but 19-year-old Karen Fernandes managed to convince her parents it was a good idea to drop out of university after a year.

"She (Karen) is earning a good amount and taking care of all her expenses, so I won't insist on her going back to college," said Wanda Fernandes, her mother.

Father Emmanuel, in the suburban church, takes a longer-term view, however.

"A good college education is vital in the long run for career growth," he told his congregation.

"What if the call center bubble bursts one day?"

Member

First of all let me say I am NOT advocating the US Government gets and guarantees us all our jobs ok ?

I find it interesting that when "outsourcing" meant "production floor" jobs the only thing that mattered was the goods would be cheaper. The workers who lost the jobs here were not a factor. Let me just add here I think many labor unions share as much of the blame as the corporations that moved the work. The UAW and Steel Workers unions REFUSED to see the changes looming from foreign competition. They refused to change or at least make adaptation easier.

Developments in outsourcing have made it much much easier for certain white collar/skilled jobs to get outsourced. Jobs like software developer, data input, or call centers. I can see the future when medical diagnoses will be outsourced because the MD in India is cheaper than the MD in your home town.

Now that outsourcing is hitting the white collars its suddenly a "crisis". Why wasn't it a crisis 20 years ago when the blue collars were getting outsourced ? Is this really a crisis ? Is this just an impetus for our economie(s) to get moving and come up with new ways of doing business ?

There's no real easy answer but its good for a healthy debate...

Gone Fishin

Has anybody actually come across this for reals?
Maybe it's my "buy local" mentality for the most part, but I have yet to make a call to someone in India.

Why do I get the impression that much of this is consumer coddling by having a 1-800 on everything we buy? And India is the least costly place to set it up and give American consumers the idea that their fav godzilla corporation cares.
Bueller?

The Movie Geek

Gone Fishin

Can I ask what was she calling about?
Was it something serious or just what I'm guessing, a consumer question?

Member

Gone Fishin

That's kind of what I'm expecting. Your call to Dell wasn't crucial to getting it delivered or actually "doing" anything. It was strictly informational or "feel good" motives, no?

Adjunct

national review had a long article on this. I am still up in the air about it. I hate to see good jobs leave America, but business is business, and workers overseas come much cheaper.

If the companies can skate prevailing wage type laws, then maybe our system needs to be change.

This is part of a problem of our economy, we want quality products at a low price. Part of the price factor is customer service. So in keeping our cost down, companies need to find way to reduce this cost.

Member

Member

It certainly speaks to the idea that what we buy has a much larger impact than merely what it does for us.

crazy cat lady

Member

I read an article in the Philly Inqy last week or so about the risks some American truck drivers in Iraq face and in this case, the trucks are empty. There's nothing being delivered. They're risking their lives for no actual service being provided, but money still being made by the companies hand over fist. It's a disgrace.

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It was actually in several papers. Here's the first one I saw in Google.

http://www.sunherald.com/mld/sunherald/news/politics/8726376.htm

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