BPO: Health vs Wealth?

The top killer (literally) for Mumbai Police isnt a
gun-toting don. One cop dies every 48 hours due to work and stress-related
diseases.

So says the response to an RTI (right to information act) query
filed by a Mumbai citizen. Over 150 policemen die every year due to stress,
ailments like cardiac problems and diabetes, and suicides; over 900 have died in
five years. Most of the 40,000-strong force does not get a weekly day off.

They are not alone. Pros in advertising, sales, banking and
media, and most CEOs, suffer high stress. And with less job security and more
payso they have even more to losetheres more stress. Like the Mumbai
cops, they skip meals, and dont take a day off.

It is in this context that we should see the statements of Indias
union health minister A Ramadoss. In September, he said the tech sector needed a
health policy. Ramadoss, who has probably never stepped onto a call center floor
in his life, said: " have a sedentary lifestyle. They smoke,
go for late-night parties, and even take drugs. Some get heart attacks in their
mid-20s..."

As Nasscom observed, this was sweeping generalization. BPO
companies set the benchmarks for employee facilities, from doorstep
pick-up-and-drop to a luxury environment and food. In this most competitive of
industries, employees have a choice of companies, and they exercise it.
And they have options, if they want to leave the profession.

Yet stress and health should worry the BPO industry, says our DQ-IDC
employee satisfaction survey this month. Stress isnt a top three factor
for leaving a company. But at #4 onward are timing, no personal life,
and strain. Top reasons for stress: travel time, work timing and
insufficient holidays; health issues appears at #6.

Many have health issues. Of the 1,749 employees surveyed, 32%
had sleeping disorders; 25%, digestive system disorders; and 20%, an eye-sight
problem. The caveat: we have no such data for other professions.

For employees, this remains a good, high-pay profession with
choices; and one thats always under the scanner. (If theres a rape, murder
or a stray bullet in a traffic jamas a Bangalore software engineer caught,
end-Octoberyou can be sure that the media will grab it if a BPO or IT
employee is involved.)

BPO employers need to look harder at stress and health. Even if
the personal life-style of adults is their own business, as Nasscom has
said, companies can make a difference to their employees health and
well-being though guidance, counseling, and planning and making available
healthy food, among other things. And a happier, healthier workforce means
better performance. Police forces, too, please take note.

Prasanto K Roy

pkr@cybermedia.co.in