K.J.
06-01-2005, 08:56 AM
350,000 telemarketers named Mary and John?
Amelia Gentleman, New Delhi
Sunday May 29, 2005
The Observer
Abuse from British and American customers is driving increasing numbers of Indian call centre workers from their jobs, defeated by the strain of handling persistent rudeness.
Irate customers was cited as one of the main industry stress factors in a recent survey of call centre staff and some organisations have begun employing psychiatrists and counsellors to help employees to cope.
Industry analysts have seen the phenomenon of racist clients grow in recent years, as customers in the UK and the US become increasingly sensitive to the political issue of jobs outsourced to India.
' As staff turnover is a major problem, with some companies battling an annual departure rate of 60-70 per cent, organisations are taking radical steps to help staff to deal with abuse. In recent months some firms have decided to provide psychological support to their workers. Sanjay Salooja's Delhi-based firm, Empower, has 20 trained counsellors who tour the city's largest call centres, providing support to harassed employees.
'Most employees are very young and don't have the skills to allow them to cope with this kind of abuse,' he said. Workers are already feeling the stress of having to work through the night and are under extreme pressure to meet productivity targets. 'They are vulnerable anyway, and an abusive call really knocks confidence. They don't want to take another call for an hour or two, and their performance is impacted.'
Some companies still specify staff must anglicise their names, adopting forenames such as Mary and John, to try to stave off resentment.
Amelia Gentleman, New Delhi
Sunday May 29, 2005
The Observer
Abuse from British and American customers is driving increasing numbers of Indian call centre workers from their jobs, defeated by the strain of handling persistent rudeness.
Irate customers was cited as one of the main industry stress factors in a recent survey of call centre staff and some organisations have begun employing psychiatrists and counsellors to help employees to cope.
Industry analysts have seen the phenomenon of racist clients grow in recent years, as customers in the UK and the US become increasingly sensitive to the political issue of jobs outsourced to India.
' As staff turnover is a major problem, with some companies battling an annual departure rate of 60-70 per cent, organisations are taking radical steps to help staff to deal with abuse. In recent months some firms have decided to provide psychological support to their workers. Sanjay Salooja's Delhi-based firm, Empower, has 20 trained counsellors who tour the city's largest call centres, providing support to harassed employees.
'Most employees are very young and don't have the skills to allow them to cope with this kind of abuse,' he said. Workers are already feeling the stress of having to work through the night and are under extreme pressure to meet productivity targets. 'They are vulnerable anyway, and an abusive call really knocks confidence. They don't want to take another call for an hour or two, and their performance is impacted.'
Some companies still specify staff must anglicise their names, adopting forenames such as Mary and John, to try to stave off resentment.