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Call centers exist in all sectors of business including banking, finance, insurance, pharmaceuticals, catalogue sales, customer service, helpdesk, food service, airline reservations, leisure, entertainment etc. According to the estimates of McKinsey, the call center industry generates about 70 percent of the revenues of the Indian Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry⁶.
Furthermore, call center industry accounts for almost a quarter of all software and service exports⁷. It provides employment on a large scale and has indeed solved the unemployment problem to many great unemployed Indians and contributes to 0.1 percent of the total labor mass in India.

The tremendous growth of call centers in the last few years has brought about a significant change in the socio-economic and cultural fabric of the India society and the behavior of the Indian youth. While many debate the impact of outsourcing on the Indian culture, it has however become clear that this trend will continue. A number of Indian companies and workers are changing and adjusting to this trend in order to profit. Observers term this phenomenon as "BPO culture", not always with positive connotations. There have been both positive and negative impacts of this so called BPO culture on the Indian youth ranging from their personality, lifestyle, attitudes, language, career, and sometimes on their whole identity.

Call Centers: Changing the Face of Indian Youth

Today, young men and women with a presentable personality and communication skills can expect to be employed with one of the hundreds of call centers, even before they complete their graduation. In addition, it has positively impacted the time, ability, knowledge and skill of the Indian youth enabling them to reach their career objectives and goals much faster. Today, a young graduate can expect a career move from a playing team member to leader within a span of 1 to 2 years.

"The good things in life" are coming to the lives of this new generation of call center employees much earlier than what it used to be a decade back. Coming at a time, when the liberalization of Indian economy was making the changes in the marketplace quite evident, call centers has created a whole new segment of young, restless and eager-to-spend consumer segment. In addition to good remuneration package, call centers also provide good working environment and other fringe benefits. So who wouldn't choose to be a call centre employee?⁸

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6 www.nasscom.org
7 http://www.outsource2india.com/why_india/articles/call_centers_india.asp
8 http://www.cvtips.com/india_call_center_employment.html

* Contributed by: -
M. S. Balaji & Diganta C.,
Research Scholars,
ICFAI Insititute for Management Teachers, Hyderabad.