Monday, December 8, 2008

Outsourcing - Everything that shines is not GOLD.

The concept of ’Outsourcing’ was considered a boon when it first started a few years ago.

Outsourcing everything overseas, specially to asian countries. And this gave birth to the BPO industry. The western countries started outsourcing for quite a number of reasons. One of them being cheap labour. And we were more than happy to accept it, considering the revenue the country would earn in bargain.

Did we take a right descision then? Its time to introspect. What have these call centres done to the youth of today. You may say provided them financial security by offering jobs as early as they enter high school. Just jobs, no, high paying jobs. True...

Now lets flip the coin & see the other side of it. The true picture which we have been ignoring all these years.

By offering high paying jobs [as per Indian standards] at a very young age they have killed our creativity & the process to think. Made us in to vegetables. Not to mention the living habbits & the addiction that the youngsters get into as money flows freely. Also giving rise to many other criminal activities in the long run.

They have made us slaves. You are not allowed to sleep in the night. Your shift changes either weekly, fortnightly or monthly. You are monitored in every possible way. There are camera’s all over the office to capture your movements. Access cards which you need to swipe against the access card readers at every door you pass through. Your calls are barged into, in the name of quality analysis. Snap shots are taken of your screen without your knowledge & a watch is kept of every activity that you do. The fact is they spy on you coz they dont trust you.

The other reason given for outsourcing was the efficiency, dedication & commitment that Indians show towards work. Indians are smart & intelligent. But you are not allowed to take your own discissions. There are procedures set & you are expected to follow them even when you know they are useless.

If they really prefer Indians, why are visas denied to Indians left right & center. Why are there stringent measure taken when a person intends to work in their land. Think about it.

India is blamed of security breach & breach of data protection when issues’s like personal data including social security numbers are said to have leaked. How do they know its happening.... Did we go and tell them.... Food for thought.... You know what I am trying to say.

People out there are paid per hour, where as we are paid per shifts. Out here breaks are not given on time in most of the case [personal experience, have been in call centres for seven years], as we are over burdened by work. We are being burnt out.

These factors affect our health in the long run. Our social life is for a toss as your family does not know when you are in & when you are out. You do not grow in any way. No time to persue your hobbies or recreate yourself. Leaves not granted when the need arises & if you are unwell thats the time they enjoy to see you slog it out.

What have we gained guys by putting our health, social life, growth on the line. Just a few thousand rupees. Do you think its worth it. Trust me guys it a dogs life.

Ever wondered, where would have these people have been if they would have joined call centers then....

Rajiv Gupta [GM of Hewlett Packard]
Vinod Dahm [Father of the Pentium Processor]
Azim Premji [CEO of Wipro Industries]
Sabeer Bhatia [Creator of Hotmail.com]
Arun Netravalli [AT & T-Bell Labs]
Dhirubhai Ambani [Entrepreneur]
Ekta Kapoor [The Queen of Indian Television]
Kiran Bedi [Top Cop]
Ajit Balakrishnan [Founder Rediff.com]

These are just a handful of people who have made a mark for them selves in the society & brought India on the world map. Its because of their selfless efforts that Indians, as I said in my review are considered as commited, intelligent & hardworking by the world.

And some of them have indeed played a decent role in improving the countries economy. We do not need call center’s to improve our countries economy. In fact they are destroying our future doctors, entrepreneur, architech’s, lawyers, etc.

People are loosing their identity even before it is made. Infact call centres in most of the cases dont even allow you to reveal your true identity. Leads to identity crisis in the long run.

Oppurtunities dont make people. People make oppurtunities.....

I doubt if we will have any more icons as these, after the trend that we see here.

I’d like to ask just one question to these countries - "When are you’ll outsourcing your defense system to us. We will provide you with cheap & efficient service......."

What do you think guys? Do you think they will ever outsource it.......

Shall await your answer.....

2 comments:

ashoksoft said...

Yo Holy Devil,
Eid mubarak!!

I've been there - done that - and i'm sorry to say ... my opinion is slightly varied.

Today we have quite a lot of unemployed youth out there in the market - and a recent market study had shown that out of these about 33% is being absorbed by the BPO/ITeS companies - we would have a crime rate that out beats latin america or mexico - had these jobs not been available.

Flip coin picture - earning big bucks as tots - gives a high initially - but you also learn the art of spending wisely by the time you are your a little older - you know where your money goes!

The monitoring bit - well I do agree - but if you understand about the number of people learning new tips and tricks (like reporting and team management - I would again say ... you remain a vegetable if you allow the system to make you one ... )

I started my career in an outsourcing firm (legally) - moved to advertising to outdoor media to events and shows - back to the BPO world which I served for 3 years, and now I'm doing something called as a reverse outsourcing - where we call the shots for international firms - advantages of venture captial.... :)

i still see the shine in outsourcing mate .. i still see it !!

cheers
karki

Mischievous Monk said...

Hey Karki,

When do I see your name in the Business Week? Will I ever be able to compare you with the likes I have mentioned in the post above.

I hope you see my point here buddy. Having known you since I long time I am sure you have the potential to be one amongst them but this BPO insudtry has deprived me of having a friend like them in you.

Had the BPO industry not been in existance you would have strived to earn your bread and butter and would have made it big. But now I see no hope as its a normal human tendancy, you wont come out of the comfort zone that you are in at the moment. You have given up taking risks and experimenting as you have been given some on a platter and you have been made a slave. Sorry buddy but I dont agree with you on this front.

-- Holy Devil

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