SHADES OF ANCIENT ROME IN CALL CENTRES

Call centers mushrooming in major metropolitan cities, attracting a huge potential of young graduates, have led one to overlook the labour practices adopted here to reap huge benefits. The debate over outsourcing has been stretched way too long now, leaving no scope to address the more serious issues one faces in the very premises of those classy glass towers housing the posh and happening call centers. In fact, the call center employees receive a rude shock when confronted with the reality of how bonded labour and outsourcing coalesce with each other to make it difficult for one to demarcate between them.

The story of bonded labour dates way back to the 17th and 18th centuries when the white settlers escaping religious persecution or ravages of famine in Europe moved into North America. Being too few in number, they had no choice but to ship in labour from the dark continent of Africa. So content they were with the arrangement of paying a bare subsistence, a small price paid to resolve their daunting problem. Though centuries have rolled by, technology has advanced, with industrial nations being at cut-throat competition for survival in the global market, cost cutting still remains a major issue of concern for them. Needless to say, this concern has once again been taken care of by outsourcing low cost labour. The heated debates and discussions over globalisation thereby called for establishment of the call centre in our country despite all the objections raised.

According to the trade body Nasscom, the BPO industry in India currently employs 350,000 workers. In fact the first major study of labour practices in Indian call centres provides us with a startling revelation. Though these business process outsourcing(BPO) companies are projected as champions of innovation, flexibility and freedom at workplace, they are actually quite the opposite, eroding even the basic human rights at work. The plush work environment complimented by the latest technologies and the high salaries make smart and young peer workers - believe that the job for which they are recruited is of an executive nature.

Research says:

According to the research conducted by V.V. Giri National Labour Institute, it has been deduced that the organizational structure of call centres is basically " dualistic" in nature consisting of a permanent set of employees and "periphery" workers, who are easily substitutable. This structure is similar to the popular model of work followed in 1980's. All call centre agents fall under the latter group while the team leaders and managers comprise the core group.

The labour practices, call centres follow are difficult to come to terms with taking into consideration the century from which we hail. The rules and regulations followed are binding and conflicts with one's indiviual rights. For instance, the monitoring of workers at the workplace which involves both on the spot monitoring as well as after working hours with the help of specially designed computer network and closed circuit cameras. In fact the study says that the degree of surveillance at work is comparable with the situations of 19th century prisons or Roman slave ships.

In addition to this, all interactions among employees in office are continuously taped and kept a record of to be randomly checked by the team leader or managers. Mistakes in work lead to warnings and a track of it "are kept in warning cards" that form part of the daily ratings of agents. If an employee commits three errors in a day, he or she is warned and sometime may even lead to immediate dismissal. Availing oneself of leave without any prior notice or consent is treated as unauthorized absence - sufficient reason for termination too in some instances. During the course of the survey, half a dozen cases of termination due to unauthorized leave were recorded. Even, if an employee is sick, it is mandatory to get the consent of the team leaders at least four to six hours in advance of the shift timings, failing which the leave is considered unscheduled.

Indentured Labour:

The one hour break that the employees get the privilege of enjoying are also enslaving as one needs to abide by the time constraints. The hi-tech phones that the agents use for receiving calls are used to keep a track of the duration of the break taken. Time starts ticking off in the telephone, the moment an employee opts for his break and thereby prevents one from prolonging their breaks to avoid call dropping - which leads to loss of revenue and brings harm to company's image. Rashmi (name changed on request) working in a famous American call centre complains saying: " What good is a break if one has to keep looking at her watch every minute to ensure whether she has time enough to finish her meal or visit the toilet ?… more so, even before one realizes it is time to unwind for a while, it is time to return to one's seat, ready to take calls again." This typically reminds us of the condition of the roman ship slaves who had to row unintermittedly, famished, disregarding all weariness or the gladiators fighting valiantly in the amphitheatres to exhibit their valour but which was in reality a crude form of entertainment to appease the bestial desires of the onlookers.

Above these grievances lies the chivalric task of bearing the abuse and humiliations from the American customers, whose "searing anger" is fueled by the outrage over outsourcing. A labour researcher, Babu Remesh says, "They feel like it is their duty" to swallow insults for the lump sum amount they savour each month. These abuses also takes its toll on the employees leading to a high rate of attrition.

Role of HR's in Call Centre according to the research:

Here the human resource managers come to play a vital role. Their primary task is " camouflaging work as fun", detaching workplace feeling from employees and giving them opportunities to air grievances with least damage to the company. The HR departments undertake activities such as organizing parties, recreation activities and taking efforts to make workplaces more work friendly. All this gives employees a superficial sense of "empowerment". Another example of giving employes a sense of " illusionary freedom and flexibility" is the number of codes of conduct, which are actually meant to be violated than complied with. For instance, the BPO firms insist on a dress code on paper but allow employees to wear clothes of their choice. This is a strategy to make workers happy at no additional cost, the study said.

Last but not the least, the author of the study, Babu Remesh also said that, the "HR departments strive to ensure that creativity and productivity of the workers are effectively tapped to strike a 'right' balance between work and fun, thereby creating a productively docile workforce.

Profit precedes over Security:

News of the rape and murder of a 24year old employee, working for a fortune 100 company has sent shock waves through the city and has brought forth many a serious issues that need to be paid heed to. In fact, the incident is a clear case of security lapse where the safety of thousands of women employees recruited by the organizations seems to be at stake. Moreover, the apathetic reaction of the CEO of the company over such a grave and sensitive issue is quite appalling. He stated, "It has nothing to do with the company. It is a stray, one-off incident." When asked what precautionary steps have been taken, he said, "the element of risk is always there…what precautionary measure can be taken against a suicide bomber?" When demanded a proper explanation for not checking up on the employee being absent without intimating the office, he responded to it saying, "Absenteeism in this industry is about 12 to 15 per cent. Some inform, others don't. The latter are referred as the "no shows"; the back-up staff simply fill in their slot. It is not exactly an alarm and at three in the morning we do not call back home." It's shuddering that it took a ghastly episode like this to break the complacence of the organizations, who value profit over security of its employees.

Designation of Call Centre "Executives", a mere sham:

From all these we can deduce that the designation of the high sounding "executive" in a call centre is a mere scab to camouflage the underlying perversions of the old labour practices followed here which one has to endure to keep his high paying job, which again to his dismay has little to offer from the point of view of growth and development of either the employee or his career.



PS: This article is dedicated to first martyr of outsourcing industry and we express our heartfelt sympathies to the families and friends who share an irreparable loss in their lives. This article is intended to open eyes before more lifes which have to bloom is not snuffed out.............tragically BPO in BPO industry has shifted blame to someone low in chain........but it has claimed an innocent life !!!

"This article reflects one point of view to this whole complex issue of people who work in the call centers. We would carry other points of view as and when get the same. Efforts to contact the trade bodies for comments were of no avail !!!

Assureconsulting.com does not endorse or reject the views expressed in this article. We would be happy to carry more articles in this area for as an responsible job-board... we think the untimely death of a wonderful individual should not be reduced to a mere number in the ever increasing crime records of Bangalore or wished away as like the attacks on the Lok Sabha and New York ........

[Note: This article includes views from various esteemed journals and publications]

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