The Creation of Jobs

In India there are about 1,050,000,000 people living in an area only 1/3 the size of the United States. India has about 1.29 million graduates each year, and many students after graduation had no place to work. Many turned to criminal or political gangs. However, now students in India have more direction and study in colleges where there is a strong emphasis on the English language and classes that specialize in what is called the “business process outsourcing industry” or BPO.

Outsourcing has provided billions of jobs and billions of dollars to India’s population. “They own much more than they could have ever expected,” says Anney Unnikrishnan, personal supervisor at 24/7. “They have a lot of disposable income and they have a lot of disposable time because they work here in the night so they get to spend all the money during the day. They call it hot. This job is hot.” 24/7 is a BPO company in India that employs thousands of Indians answering customer service and sales calls. There is an increasing demand for BPO workers, but there are also many people fighting for a position. “The education system brings in a lot of peer pressure and when you live in a country with a billion people that makes the Indian more competitive because he fights for getting the opportunities and really owns his skills, like the calls for business,” says V. Bharathwaj, director of Marketing at 24/7.

Overall, it seems as if outsourcing to India is helping its overall economy and employment rate. Indians seem to be more than delighted to accept a job at an outsourcing company where they earn $200-300 a month, which is a considerable amount considering the cost of living in India is lower than that of the United States. However, working at a BPO can be very draining. Having to answer calls with angry and disgruntled customers day after day can be very frustrating and exhausting. Also, working in a BPO, there is a high turnover rate because there aren’t many ways to climb up the business ladder when you become someone who answers phone calls all day long. It is also hard to get a different job after that because there aren’t many jobs that deal with the same set of skills as outsourcing jobs do. Advancements in job opportunities isn’t the only down side to outsourcing. The abandonment of culture and tradition is also starting to become more prevalent. I will go into more detail about this in my next post.