When the Night Life Hurts

Barely a km away from home and at 3:30 am on a cold January morning, Shweta

Gupta informs her mother of her impending arrival on the phone. She has just

finished her shift at a leading third party call-center and is returning home.

It’s just been one of those long night once again. Shashi, her mother has to

move awkwardly out of her warm bed and let her young daughter in, and then sit

with her while Shweta has dinner and talks about her night at work.

Does this routine disturbance in sleep affect her in any way? "It does.

But I have adjusted to it now. I catch up with my sleep during daytime these

days," says Shashi, much like her daughter does.

It is a routine that thousands of mothers around the country are getting used

to. But it is a minor change in lifestyle, compared to what the approximately 2

lakh, young and well-educated people working in these call-centers have to

routinely go through.

And, the fallout is turning out to be far from happy. Working at night is

already beginning to take a heavy toll on their family and social life and also

has the potential to severely impair their health.

"I meet my father only once a week. In fact, he calls me up daily to

find out how I’m doing," says Shweta. Agrees Mudita, a 26-year-old agent.

"Life has changed upside down, and our social circle is now limited to

interaction with colleagues and peers at office."

So, would they take a similar job with normal daytime working hours, but at a

20% cut in salary? The answer is a non-commital yes, which in a way exemplifies

the state of affairs in the business.

In the recent DQ-IDC BPO employee satisfaction survey, a staggering 35% of

respondents said they are likely to leave because they cannot handle the

schedule (for details, see Dataquest, September 30, 2003 issue).

Is there really a problem with the industry at large? "Night shifts are

not new–they have been there in manufacturing, hotels and tourism, transport

and aviation and some other industries, albeit in lower numbers. It is only now

that due to a large number of people involved in call-centers, there is an

increased degree of concern about working at nights," avers S Varadarajan,

VP—talent engagement and development at Wipro Spectramind.

The survey also threw up something else—money remains the biggest reason

why most people join call centers. 45% of all respondents across the industry

said they joined up for the money, with another 42% saying they would most

likely leave for better opportunities (read money) elsewhere.

However, most of these people are increasingly finding themselves helplessly

caught in their own little world— in a different time warp. While most agree

that the hefty pay packets were a big lure, it also was reason enough for

staying put in the industry. "There is no doubt a feeling of helplessness,

of being caught in a vicious circle," says Dr Jitendra Nagpal of Vimhans

Hospital in Delhi, who, on an average, consults one call center case—of a

burnt-out call-center employee— every week.

But then, the sheer economics of the business undermines health and lifestyle

concerns. The Indian BPO industry is expected to gross $4 billion in revenues

this year itself. "We must not forget that BPO industry could be a major

driver of India’s economic growth in next two-three years," says Anirudh

Limaye, VP-HR at Daksh eServices. Where then should one look for a solution?

No Time for Friends



Says Prakash, 22, working in a leading BPO company in Gurgaon, he is

struggling to keep his relationship intact with friends outside his office.

"Earlier they used to call and ask me for going out to movies and

restaurants. After my repeated refusals, now they just don’t call me

anymore." He tried to get along at times by cutting out on his sleep during

daytime. "But then, I was not able to give my 100% at office and work

suffered," he says.

Others, however, do not seem to mind the downsides of the job. "I often

sleep for 5-6 hours, and therefore can go out with my friends," says

Pragati. She also finds it easy to meet her friends during two off-days per

week, "thanks to that, my social life is more or less normal".

However, things go awry with the demands of a special project—which mean

longer hours. "There are some seasonal projects where we have to work 12

hours a day, 7 days a week," says Prakash. "Long hours are not

unusual, and since they happen at nights, it means we are left with no choice

but to sleep through the day", laments Mudita. "I miss sleeping at

nights, it is almost a luxury for us now," says Shweta.

"Social life certainly gets upset for these people (because of

night-shifts), and this is primarily because of our dependence on US business.

The scenario could be vastly different if we could have clients from different

parts of the globe," points out Limaye.

Health Hazard



Working at nights is a challenge–adjusting the biological clock to a

different time zone is a major cause health-related problems. The need to stay

awake throughout the night, coupled with a largely monotonous job, is driving

many young people to high-levels of nicotine and caffeine consumption.

"Long hours are the order of the day in all competitive businesses these

days. However, putting hours at nights can no doubt take its toll on health. But

there are ways to mitigate or even strike out such risks by learning to do what

you otherwise do, if you were to keep a normal cycle," says Limaye.

"Eating well, doing physical exercises, taking required amount of rest, all

of this is possible. You just have to discipline yourself to achieve this."

But that is probably expecting too much of this vulnerable group of 18-25 year

olds, he admits.

In the BPO employee satisfaction survey, around 27% employees admitted they

would leave either because of work stress or the sheer physical strain that was

too much to handle. Even work related ailments are a reality–sleeping

disorders, digestive system disorders and eyesight problems are widely

prevalent.

Realizing the problem, BPO companies have their own stress-busters in place–many

of them provide facilities for recreation and doing small physical workouts.

Some like Wipro Spectramind have full-sized gymnasiums in place. But in a job

where time is the most critical resource, smoking a cigarette is preferred over

playing a full-length game of table tennis.

On their part, organizations are also sensitive to the health needs of their

employees. "Taking a routine break is important. If a person fails to take

his break, his supervisor is held responsible and questioned by his

superior," says Varadarajan.

And, there’s another worry. For many of these 18-25 year-olds, who are also

studying and taking classes during the daytime, the stress is even higher. There

is no dearth of such people, given the age profile of call-center employees. A

typical day of 24 hours then means a minimum of 18 hours work, 10-12 hours in

office and the rest in college or the library.

But whether or not this is a reason for increased stress is debatable. Says

Varadarajan, "We often grossly underestimate the abilities of these young

people. They have a drive to excel and they are willing to work hard and stretch

themselves for it." Nagpal also feels that employees need to be sensitive

to their individual body needs and learn to ignore peer pressure.

A Zero-sum Game



Night shifts are the very foundations on which the BPO industry is thriving.

Unfortunately, there are only a handful of solutions to the problems of these

young back-office soldiiers. "No doubt their social life gets upset and

there is only so much we can do to help our people regain it. But we try and

offset this loss by making our work environment as friendly and enjoyable as

possible," says Limaye. And Varadarajan agrees.

Most organizations have routine parties on campus and social bonding events

within the team is highly encouraged. They are doing everything they can to make

a call-center a fun place to work in, from hosting pani-puri eating contests to

taking employees to offsite picnics. Indoor games like table tennis, pool and

carrom are must-haves. "The atmosphere is very much like a college, even

our breaks are like those between periods," says Anurag a 21-year-old just

out of college and just two-months into the business.

Shorter shifts of 3-4 hours duration, like one from 11 to 3 at night could be

another alternative. But Limaye is quick to point out the disadvantages.

"We have experimented with shorter shifts, and we have noticed that the

productivity dips where people work for fewer hours. Besides, most agents in big

metros like Delhi/Gurgaon hate the idea of commuting for close to three hours,

for a shift that lasts only four hours," says Limaye. But the idea makes a

lot of sense for people living close to the office, as also for BPOs located in

smaller towns.

Perhaps the case of Army could provide some answers. "With all the

job-related stress and months of staying away from family, you rarely find a

soldier who is burnt-out or does not have a smile on his face," says Nagpal.

That is because of excellent people-management systems and processes in place,

"which take care of every soldier in a holistic way". Now if only a

way was found to adapt some of these processes for the BPO industry, the looming

darkness could again make way for bright sunny days.

Rishi Seth in New Delhi

Americanization, anyone?

There have often been concerns raised on forced enculturization of

call-center employees–to make their American callers feel like ‘one of them’.

They are taught to speak with Western accents, made to watch Western sitcoms and

movies, and even taught American history and geography. How serious is this

enculturization, and does it really harm those under it?

"We are expected to know many important details about our callers, but

this is just to make them feel comfortable. It never affects us in any

way," says Prakash. These details often range from local weather to latest

sport update, and are often communicated at daily briefings. His words are

echoed by almost everyone else Dataquest spoke to. And as Varadarajan of Wipro

Spectramind says, "We emphasize on accent neutralization only, and the

employees automatically pick up these western accents after months of routine

conversations with people abroad."

"Besides," he continues, "it is wrong to assume that working

in a call-center is the only source of Western influence on these young minds.

It is actually the media which routinely feeds us with Western sights and

sounds, and this slowly gets embedded in our personalities."

"Whatever we learn of America is practiced only within those eight hours

at shift, and nobody carries their American accents outside," says Shweta.

Whereas Nitin, a team leader with two years of experience in call-centers spoke

with an obvious Western accent. "It is often pronunciations that improve–for

example we have to learn to pronounce mobile as mo-bill, and that is when we are

sometimes ridiculed by other friends for faking an accent."

There were concerns of identity crises too, resulting from their faking a

different name while taking calls. Every call-center employee is given an alias,

a Western first name, which is used to identify him over phone. However, nobody

raised any complains or problems with the arrangement. Anurag is happy to

introduce himself as Jack to his callers, but he never answers his personal

phone with "Jack speaking".