Monday, May 30, 2005
Racism and outsourcing
(Via Madman) Apparently, there are a large number of call center workers in India quitting because of racial abuse hurled at them by a few customers, especially from the U.S and U.K.
The report in The Observer said workers faced a spectrum of rudeness — from sexual harassment to fury at unsolicited sales calls to open racism, and that some BPOs had started employing counsellors to help employees cope. It cited one Pooja Chopra from Delhi who spent two years fielding calls for BT Cellnet and AOL. “People would say 'You're a Paki, I don't want to talk to you, pass me on to someone who can speak my language'.”
Aren't call center workers trained to deal with this sort of harassment from customers? Does the putting-on-an-accent-and-claiming-to-be-someone-you-aren't BS play a role in this harassment? Or is it just blatant racism?
The report in The Observer said workers faced a spectrum of rudeness — from sexual harassment to fury at unsolicited sales calls to open racism, and that some BPOs had started employing counsellors to help employees cope. It cited one Pooja Chopra from Delhi who spent two years fielding calls for BT Cellnet and AOL. “People would say 'You're a Paki, I don't want to talk to you, pass me on to someone who can speak my language'.”
Aren't call center workers trained to deal with this sort of harassment from customers? Does the putting-on-an-accent-and-claiming-to-be-someone-you-aren't BS play a role in this harassment? Or is it just blatant racism?
