Major Issues and Challenges in the Indian Call Centre Industry

This report discusses the major issues and challenges faced by the Indian call centre industry and the impacts on the industry and the country. It analyzes the lack of interest in the sector, the problems with human resource management and the hectic work schedule. The report suggests that the future prospects of the call centre industry in India are good if the industry can provide good future prospectus to the employees and attract more youth to the industry by providing monetary benefits and good working conditions.

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Name of the Student
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Author Notes

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Table of Contents
1. Major issues and challenges in the Indian Call Centre Industry and evaluation of the
impacts to the Indian Call Centre Industry and the country.......................................................2
1.1. Short Summary of the Scenario......................................................................................2
1.2. Case Study Background..................................................................................................3
1.3. Statement of the Problem................................................................................................3
1.4. Research Questions.........................................................................................................4
1.5. Aims and Objectives.......................................................................................................4
1.6. Case Brief........................................................................................................................4
1.7. Analysis of the case.........................................................................................................5
1.8. Findings of the Analysis..................................................................................................7
3. Reference..........................................................................................................................10

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Learning Outcome 1
1. Major issues and challenges in the Indian Call Centre Industry and
evaluation of the impacts to the Indian Call Centre Industry and the
country.
1.1. Short Summary of the Scenario
One of the major industries that started its operation in the late 1990s and gathered
popularity in the early 2000s is the call centre industry. The impact of the call centre industry
on the subcontinent of India was major but the amount of profit and popularity that it wished
to gather was considerably less. In the late 1990s there was a boom in the call centre industry
as per the industry analysis of the experts. The industry experts were sure about the surging
business of call centre and its role to eliminate the problem of unemployment in a country
like India. The industry experts stated that Indian call centres will attract a huge amount of
employment in both the inbound call centres and in customer service department.
However, in reality it was seen that the call centre industry was not at all successful in the
industry and noticed a relatively low amount of success in the real time world of the scene.
The major call centres of the world experienced a major loss in their revenues and some even
did not have the bare minimum employees needed for the communication purpose (D’Cruz

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and Noronha 2012). The scenario given in the situation stated that call centres in India was
not at all successful much against the prediction of the industry experts in which they stated
that India would be one of the best places to set up and run a call centre business due to the
huge amount of unemployment problem in the country. However, in the real life situation the
people and youth of the country was not even interested in the new mode of earning in spite
of being offered a lucrative amount of salary and good international business house name.
The reason that had been stated for this purpose is the lack of proper human resource team
which manages the employee and the hectic work schedule and the lack of future prospectus
that the work holds (Raghuram 2013). The business that was to boom according to the
industry experts was seen to be in a feeble state which more or less amount of people being
interested in the post.
1.2. Case Study Background
The background of the case study relates to the setting up of call centres in India as
one of the basic and innovative means to create employment opportunities in the market in a
country that faced a huge employment crisis since time (Taylor 2017). However, the case
study also stated that inspite of the certain amount of benefits applicable in the business
purpose, the people of the country was not interested in the work and preferred the traditional
means of job instead. Call centre is defined as the centralised office premises for the purpose
of receiving and transmission of call by the people who are working there (Rod and Ashill,
2013). There are a number of call centres in the modern world providing various kinds of
technical and communicative support to the callers and customers. The introduction to the
call centre started in the early 1990s in India and promised a great future for all the people in
the country (Upadhya and Vasavi 2012). The prime motive of the people of the call centre as
well as the technical sector is to make sure that their profit levels are fulfilled and for this
motive they needed a great amount of man power to support the workings of the company in

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terms of the support and customer care. The call centres are established to make sure that the
working of the company is done in a proper manner providing technical support to the clients
which has some of the major problems in India.
1.3. Statement of the Problem
1. To understand the major issues like low employee turnover that the call centres of
India has in terms of work and employee
2. To understand the challenges of long working hours that the employees and the
employers of the call centre in India face
3. To understand the implications that are being faced in the country due to the
influence of call centre
4. To make a suitable analysis of the findings of the call centre in India that has been
faced in the last few decades.
1.4. Research Questions
1. What are the major problems like low employee turnover faced by the call centres of
India?
2. What are the major challenges like long working hours that the employees have faced in
the call centre of India in the last decade?
3. What are the implications that are faced by the country as well as the industry due to the
call centre influence?
4. What are the suitable analysis that the call centre of India has in the last few decades?

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1.5. Aims and Objectives
The aim of the research and report is to find the major challenges like low employee
turnover and problems like long working hours that are faced by the call centres of the Indian
subcontinent and also the implications that have been faced by the call centres on the industry
and the country. Subsequently, another major aim and objective that is being faced by the call
centre of India is to measure the percent of people who have faced such situations and
implications in the same manner.
1.6. Case Brief
The call centre industry of India has been facing major problems in the late 1990s and
the early 2000s due to the various types of implications that are there in the business circuit.
The industry analysis stated that call centres would be one of the best bet for the Indian
market due to the huge amount of unemployment problem and also to the facet that call
centre employees would be provided one of the best payments in terms of monetary means
that would surely attract a large amount of youth. However, in reality that reality was quite
different from the thinking process. There had been a comparative less amount of employee
engagement in the business circuit which attracted a less number of people in the office. Most
of the call centres in India noticed less number of people and most of the call centres had
vacancies in their office in spite of their full efforts to attract a huge number of people. The
situation of the Indian call centre was emerged in problems and debts that made the industry
one of the least anticipated industry in the overall sector of the country at that time (Surana
and Singh 2012). The case also gives a analysis of the call centre industry of India and also
states the various kinds of problems that are associated with the industry analysis.

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1.7. Analysis of the case
The analysis of the case is as per the case study provided that clearly mentions the
condition of the call centre during 2000 and the lack of interest that the youths have in mind
regarding the call centre in India. However, the analysis also highlights the various problems
that the call centre of India faces in the subcontinent. There was a considerable splurge of the
call centres in the Indian subcontinent from the 1990s to the early 2000s and there was a
considerable amount of popularity expectance from the people of India. There was a future
prediction that was one of the best in the industry analysis that made one of the best industry
analysis in the recent years. The Indian call centre was one of the most expected flourishing
place for the youths of the country. The largest English speaking people of the world made
the establishment of the call centre business one of the best bets in the recent years. The
analysis of the case made the distinction of the call centre of the country one of the pivotal in
the arenas of the industry. The various types of problems that are there in the call centre is
mentioned that is one of the considerable problems that are there in the sector. The analysis
of the case makes sure that the call centre of the country have the better amount of popularity
in the minds of the youth. The analysis of the case suggest the various types of problems that
are there in the call centres of the Indian industry and the various types of the solutions that
could have been done on the front of the people of the country. The government intervention
in the matter has been one of the shocking element of the matter as the government
intervention is one of the most underrated things that have been in the call centre industry
(Lockwood 2013). There are also a number of problems that are there in the call centre
industry that needed immediate attention like attracting the youth and also collecting the
required amount of monetary benefits for the people of the industry. There had been instances
when most of the call centres of the country had been empty due to the lack of employment
or the existing employees are jobless due to the lack of calls that are there in the office. The

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retention of employees have been a major task that needed to be done on a wide scale. The
employees of the call centre industry is one of the major issues as most of the employees of
the sector face a number of problems including the attention of the various sectors in the job
sector. The analysis of the case study also states the future prospects of the call centre
industry in India. India is one of the developing countries of the world where there are a
number of unemployed people in the world and job findings is one of the major instances that
needed immediate attention. With the required amount of initiatives, the people of the
country could be directed to use and utilise the benefits of call centre and also to make proper
use of the benefits that the companies are willing to provide in terms of the call centre
enterprise. The future prospects of the call centre is one of the major ways in which the
industry can be analysed. With more people knowing the benefits of using a call centre and
also making use of the system, there should be an increase in the employment of the
enterprise and more youth should be directed to the industry given the good amount of
payment that the industry provides. In addition, if the industry provides good future
prospectus to the employees, there should be a boom in the employment of the sector.
The problems at the call centres of India needed desperate solutions for the people
working there otherwise the people would deliberately look for other jobs in different sectors
that would prove detrimental for the sector (Barnes 2013). India being a country that has a
large amount of unemployed population invites a lot of employers from outside India which
makes the employment scene of the country easy and accessible. There should be a
prominent solution to the various problems that the people of the call centre face on a daily
basis. At the foremost level, the people working in the call centre should be eligible for good
human resource department and should be made sure to get the achievements from them.
Another problem that needs to be made under solution is to grant leaves and less working
hours to the employees should that they should have recreational time of their own. The

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balance between health and working hours should be made which is one of the major
negatives of the sector at the present moment (Goodman 2012). India being a country with
less employment can attract a huge number of youths into the business of call centre if they
could provide much needed salary along with other incentives to the workers. The
organization should have a proper sourcing from the records which should invite less time for
each of the clients as a result of which they should be made sure of the time give to each
clients. The workers should be given enough amount of information about the organization so
that they can effectively reach out for the clients when they need it.
1.8. Findings of the Analysis
The business regarding call centre was comparatively new to the Indian market that
led to a number of problems in the matter. The call centre business was pretty inexperienced
in the sector of customer handling which made it one of the biggest problems in the arena.
The customer support team that was appointed by the business heads failed to make a mark at
the minds of the customer leading to a considerable fail in the business of the sector.
According to the call centre industry, only selling cheap and inexpensive products will attract
the customers and thereby make the business profitable by every means. However, in reality
that case was entirely different. The clients of these call centres were very difficult to handle
and the major problem started when they started to soliciting clients. According to me, there
was no track record of the employees or the clients who were the major targets of the call
centres which led to immense hassle and harassment by the staffs of the call centres. The
business being comparatively new to the market experienced a total downfall in the matter
and also diverted the customers to opt for some other means of communicating and solving
their issues. The findings of the analysis also stated that the number of employees of the call
centres had fallen drastically in the beginning of the 2000s when the amount of recruitment
and retainment of the employee should be at the highest level. According to my experience.,

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the people of the call centre industry started to look for different kinds of jobs outside the
premises which made around 10-15% of the employees leave the job at the first one or two
months itself. It is to be noticed that the total percent of employment of the call centre was
never more than 40-45% which meant that in spite of less interest in the minds of the youth
regarding the call centre business, the people engaging themselves also tried to leave it at the
earliest (Agarwal 2014). There can be multiple reasons for the issue namely the shift hours
and the amount of hectic work schedule. The people working in the call centre were expected
to work for eight and a half hours out of which they were expected to give seven and a half
hours in receiving calls. These made the work life of the employees very monotonous and
hectic. A number of health issues was there involving the people working there which made a
majority leave the job and opt for some other means of work in different sectors (Thaly and
Sinha 2013). The customers also mistreated the people of the call centre whenever they
received their calls at their office timings or at odd hours. The reason for the utter frustration
for the employees was very evident being the fact that in spite of working at such tough
working conditions for the long hours, the amount of reputation and job satisfaction was mere
which did not motivate the people working in the call centre to be among those who needed
more of the job.
There are a number of ways that could have been done in the call centre sector to
motivate the people of the country to take up the profession and be sure to make it their
lasting career. Firstly according to me, the concept of making a career option should be
developed in the minds of the youth of India. Moreover, the people working for the call
centre should be given enough amount of opportunity to make sure that the people opting call
centre as their career option do not leave the job for any specific reason. The improvement of
the human resource management of the place should also be increased and alongside certain
human resource strategies should be implied that should increase the motivation of the

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workers working for the company. According to my personal opinion, a major training
session should be conducted by the organization so that the people who are new to the sector
can get an apt amount of insight into the sector and also should be made to focus on the new
forms of work conducted by them (José Martínez-Jurado, Moyano-Fuentes and Jerez Gómez
2013). My recommendations also include the fact that the people who are working in the call
centre should be given enough amount of recreational space to get indulged in the activities
regarding the personal and professional life balance. Another thing that I would like to
recommend also make sure that the people of the call centre are nurtured not only at their
professional level but also at their personal level so that they get the required motivation to
work for the organization. The call centres of India face a number of issues in attracting a
number of youths to the sector and also to make sure that the industry is getting sufficient
amount of focus from the people of the developing country like India. In the case study, the
problems stated are analysed and also made sure that the youths of the country find the job
opportunity as their career options. If such is the case then the sector will find the required
amount of exposure required for the success. For the said results according to my personal
opinion, the industry has to implement certain amount of HR management strategies for the
successful implementation of the same which is discussed in the next module. In conclusion,
it can be said that the call centre industry is facing a number of problems that require
immediate attention.

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3. Reference
Agarwal, P., 2014. A Study of Work Life Balance with Special Reference to Indian Call
Center Employees. International Journal of Engineering and Management Research, 4(1),
pp.157-164.
Barnes, T., 2013. The IT industry and economic development in India: A critical
study. Journal of South Asian Development, 8(1), pp.61-83.
D’Cruz, P. and Noronha, E., 2012. High commitment management practices re-examined:
The case of Indian call centres. Economic and Industrial Democracy, 33(2), pp.185-205.
Deery, S., Nath, V. and Walsh, J., 2013. Why do off‐shored I ndian call centre workers want
to leave their jobs?. New Technology, Work and Employment, 28(3), pp.212-226.
Goodman, A., 2012. Work–life balance. In Physicians’ pathways to non-traditional careers
and leadership opportunities (pp. 25-34). Springer, New York, NY.
José Martínez-Jurado, P., Moyano-Fuentes, J. and Jerez Gómez, P., 2013. HR management
during lean production adoption. Management decision, 51(4), pp.742-760.
Raghuram, S., 2013. Identities on call: Impact of impression management on Indian call
center agents. Human relations, 66(11), pp.1471-1496.
Rowe, A.C., Malhotra, S. and Pérez, K., 2013. Answer the call: Virtual migration in Indian
call centers. University of Minnesota Press.
Straker, L., Abbott, R.A., Heiden, M., Mathiassen, S.E. and Toomingas, A., 2013. Sit–stand
desks in call centres: Associations of use and ergonomics awareness with sedentary
behavior. Applied ergonomics, 44(4), pp.517-522.

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Surana, S.J. and Singh, A.K., 2012. The effect of job burnout on job outcomes among call
centre customer service representatives in India. International Journal of Intelligent
Enterprise, 1(3-4), pp.270-289.
Taylor, P., 2017. The Globalization of Service Work: Analysing the 12 Transnational Call
Centre Value Chain. Working life: Renewing labour process analysis, p.244.
Taylor, P., D'Cruz, P., Noronha, E., & Scholarios, D. (2013). The experience of work in
India's domestic call centre industry. The International Journal of Human Resource
Management, 24(2), 436-452.
Thaly, P. and Sinha, V., 2013. To prevent attrition in business process outsourcing, focus on
people. Global Business and Organizational Excellence, 32(3), pp.35-43.
Upadhya, C. and Vasavi, A.R. eds., 2012. In an outpost of the global economy: Work and
workers in India's information technology industry. Routledge.
Vaidyanathan, B., 2012. Professionalism ‘from below’: mobilization potential in Indian call
centres. Work, employment and society, 26(2), pp.211-227.