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E-SAT SURVEY 2005: The Health Factor

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DQI Bureau
New Update

Intense stress resulting from 24x7 shifts, long hours at

work, night shifts, pressure to perform on metrics and high call volumes tend to

affect the health of workers. There are often cases of absenteeism but so far

there is no report that directly correlates BPO-related ailments to the high

turnover in the industry. Common ailments among BPO executives are sleeping

disorders, insomnia, digestive system-related disorders, eyesight problems, ear

problems, among others.

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Particular illness people developed after joining this job 

Figures except base are percentage of employees who named these illnesses they developed after joining a BPO

Health: Digestive Problems &

Depression




Digestive problems and gastroenteritis takes its toll on the overall system and
results in severe stomach problem. Coupled with all the other problems is

depression. Staying up at ungodly hours tends to affect peace of mind.

Short-term benefit that arises from good pay soon loses its charm and takes a

backseat, while factors like lack of a career path, uncertain future, distance

from the family, absence of adequate holidays, and monotony add to the

depression. However, only 9% of the respondents agreed that depression is a

reason for concern, a drop of nearly 15% points from last year. Are depression

levels declining at Indian BPO? Possibly. Thanks to media attention, there's

growing awareness about the BPO industry and what is expected from people

working in the industry.

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Health: Sleeping Disorders



Over 34% of respondents complained of sleep disorders. Most customers of

Indian BPOs come from the US and UK. So, employees work on UK/US shifts and

typically spend long hours in the night, at the office. Abnormal timings have a

two-fold effect on call center executives-freshers are required to adapt

themselves to a different biological clock and existing employees often suffer

from insomnia.

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Health: Eyesight problems



More and more BPO executives are complaining of eyesight problems. Long

hours in front of the computer tend to exhaust the eyes. Employees face problems

like irritation, and watering of the eyes. Absence of adequate breaks and sleep

adds to the stress levels and put pressure on the eyes. Nearly 19% of the

respondents complained of eye problems this year.

Health: Lethargy



It looks at more and more employees in the BPO industry are showing greater

acceptance a BPO job. Only 12% of the employees expressed problems from lethargy

this year as opposed to 23% last year. Lethargy, typically, arises from monotony

and lack of excitement at work. A fall in levels of lethargy that employee

experience could only arise from the fact that people have realized that it

makes more sense to live with the realities of the BPO industry and adapt

themselves to struggle and survive.

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