Study examines working conditions of employees in four countries
You say you’re not happy about seeing so many tech-related jobs outsourced overseas? And that it’s stressful dealing with foreign call-center employees who may lack a grasp of their product sets and/or English?
Turns out the holders of these jobs are not always happy with the situation either. That’s the gist of a new study and accompanying book by the International Labour Organization released on Monday. The research centered on so-called business process outsourcing (BPO) workers in India, Brazil, Argentina and the Philippines.
From an IDG News Service story on this site:
Employees have benefited with higher salaries. The wages of Indian BPO workers are nearly double the average wages in other sectors of the Indian economy, according to the study titled “Offshoring and Working Conditions in Remote Work.” In the Philippines, BPO employees earn 53 per cent more than workers of the same age in other industries.
On the flip side, the ILO study confirms to a large extent concerns raised by social workers and trade unions in India about stressful working conditions at BPO companies.
Workers have to cope with heavy and variable workloads driven by performance targets, tight rules and procedures enforced through electronic monitoring, and unpleasant tasks such as dealing with difficult customers over the phone, the study said.
And who doesn’t, I hear you asking.
Would unions help? Maybe, but the researchers say there has been little appetite for unions among the workers both because they fear retaliation and there are more than enough BPO employers available to make leaving an unpleasant one feasible.
In fact, some employers report annual turnover rates of up to 100%.
Which brings us back full circle to the frustrations and stress levels of the customers who have to deal with this new world order.
