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Where do I stand in my Future
I am highly educated Indian, I got Opportunity in Multi National Company on a high Level Pay scale. I Served that Company for Six Years with maximum efforts in Marketing Section which resulted in to a very good Stability of the Company and for that reason the Company rewarded me from time to time.
During the Service no adverse remarks were there.
One day during the Office work I have received One letter from the head office of my Company, it was a great shock to me as my Services was terminated from the end of that day and along with that letter I received one demand draft of 1 Month’s Pay and a handful amount an and by way of a reward for my services rendered to them.
It is surprising that till that day I was not aware of the fact that I was not the direct Employee of the Multinational Company, but I was Employed through an Agency who usually provides Officers, Staff, Worker’s to Multinational Companies for their Branches in India.
I made an attempt asking a clarification from the multinational Company but they started giving me explanation which I do not find relevant. I consulted a Lawyer and it was found that what was executed in between me and the Agency and the Multinational Company was not sufficient to prove my case.
After making due enquiry I came to know that all these Multinational Companies always keep themselves very alert by not appointing Any persons or officials directly just to avoid themselves from the clutches of Indian Laws just as Payment of wages Act, Provident Fund Act and other Acts related. And therefore it has become a Precedent that all these Companies do not appoint directly all the persons they require but they buy the services rendered , and / or they tune their Agreement of appointment to that effect, even in the appointment letter’s they impose certain conditions which paralyze the appointed person by enjoying his legal Rights and such Persons become a Puppet of the hands of these Multinational Companies.
From the conduct of this type of attitude of Multinational Companies who are making a huge profits in India by fooling the people and taking disadvantage by misguiding them, some questions arose in my mind which were remained unsolved, for which I am searching for a good answer.
- What is my future if any Multinational Company terminates my services ?
- Where do I go to ask for a justice ?
- Was there any forum who can help me ?
- Can I prove my case ?
- Can I ask for a Compensation ?
- What will be the status regarding my provident Fund ?
- Will the Indian Government help me or / and such types of persons ?
- Does the Indian Law Provides me certain Protections ?
After Lots of Enquiry in the Private Sector’s in India I surprisingly found that most of the Indian Companies and Entrepreneurs and Institutions now a days appoints their Staff’s and officer’s on a Contract basis just to avoid from the Legal Clutches and from rigid Conditions of Indian Laws. By Accepting this method of Appointment they always keep a hanging Sword of termination on their Employees.
The Employees working under this constant threat of termination without giving any reason by Employer, works years together dreaming that every day in the Morning he will go on work and in the evening return to his Home with a hope to go on the same work next morning.
I just want to ask to the Human resources department and the Persons working thereunder. Do you have any concrete solution on this ? At least my successor in titles for the said job should not suffer due to the uncertainty of job surety and Security of their earnings in their life like me.
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B.P.O
Introduction:
BPO (Business process outsourcing) promises to become one of India biggest and most exciting business opportunities. Optimists feel that it could overshadow India’s achievements in IT. Estimates of the size of the market, and the manifold opportunities it offers particularly to India’s educated population are given. Business applications suited to BPO, problems and threats are broadly identified.
Definition BPO/ITES:
Business process outsourcing (BPO) is the act of giving a third-party the responsibility of running what would otherwise be an internal system or service.
In simple terms ITES is the delegation of one or more IT-intensive operations to an external provider, who in turn administers and manages the selected business process based upon defined and measurable performance.
Size of the Market
a) Indian Scenario:
A $2 billion industry and expected it to grow at a CAGR of 54 per cent till 2006 to reach $12 billion. The ITES-BPO segment contributes 25 per cent of the total IT software and service exports from India and witnessed a growth of 59 per cent to reach Rs 11,300 crore (US $2.3 billion) in 2002-03.
b) Global Scenario:
According to a recent study released by Pricewaterhouse Coopers, more than 100 US companies averaging about $4.4 billion in yearly revenue, the study shows that around 73 percent of US companies in the sample, presently outsource one or more business processes to external service providers. Centered on the US market. A study by Gartner on the emerging BPO market shows that BPO services Worldwide will grow from US$ 119 billion in 2000 to US$ 234 billion in 2005 at a 14.4 percent compound annual growth rate.
Threats
There exists competition from countries like China and Philippines, China also possesses low cost labor and IT skills but the problem with them being their handicap in English. Philippines is the world’s third largest English speaking country and has an IT skill set next only to India however this pool of talent is not large enough.
Increase in attrition can be seen as a major threat to the Indian BPO industry, attrition levels reaching as high as 35%, reason being high stress and burnouts also a lot of people switch off when they get opportunities elsewhere.
Social resistance in client countries, especially the US wherein the downturn of the economy and rise in unemployment rates can be seen as major influential factors.
The feeling of losing control over your processes, especially in the services industry can act as a deterrent for companies to outsource.
There is a need for Indian companies to move up the value chain as competition will be fierce in future and to sustain itself India has to offer services like a one stop shop for companies that need to outsource and provide services in niche areas.
Advantages
a) Low Labor Costs: India is highly competitive and cost effective due to it lowest wage rates and employee attrition rates compared to other major IT destinations.
b) Vigorous Infrastructure: Quick to adapt and can deliver on any business in a very short time frame. Indian bandwidth itself currently stands at 1.2 Gbps and is slated to increase to 16Tbps by 2005
c) Educated Workforce: Computer literate population with excellent Communication Skills & Large English Speaking manpower is available in abundance. It has the maximum number of quality and quantity knowledge workers. An excellent infrastructure as its back up not only helps the communications but also enhances the skills that are so very flexible in India.
d) Brand Equity: Outsource to a mature industry with world-class systems, systems and quality.
e) Govt: Support: India has a stable government and is one of the world’s 10 fastest-growing economies. Government has recognized the potential of IT Enabled Services and has offered multiple incentives.
Opportunities
a) Exploitation of time differences between India and main target markets: India’s time zone difference with the US makes it possible to offer 24X7 service and reduce turnaround times, enabling work in sync with U.S. businesses.
b) Utilization Improvement: The Company is better equipped to focus its available resources on other ctivities that the company engages in and thus improve company focus.
c) Fast Implementation & Procuring Resources Not Available Internally: India has access to a large pool of graduates having IT skills who speak fluent English, which is unavailable elsewhere in the world.
d) Global strategy: There is also a market outside the US that India needs to tap, markets in Europe and UK also have high potential.
e) Expansion into new markets either vertically or horizontally from existing customer base.
f) Riding the back of the broad trend towards and awareness of outsourcing to India
Indian BPO Companies
Started with GE. Many players today are Global Telesystems, Msource, Intelnet, Spectramind, Daksh, Efunds, 24/7 Customer, CustomerAsset, FirstRing, exlService, Tracmail, Talisma, Transworks, ibackoffice and iSeva.
Range of services provided varies from Customer Interaction Services, Industry Specific Services, Payment Services, Supply Chain Services, Finance and Accounting Services to HR Services.
Comment
The field of BPO has tremendous potential to grow; a lot now depends on the factors that will influence its growth. As far as the corporates are concerned they are to gain from this endeavor but for certain exceptions wherein the domestic markets are only relied upon. Studies have shown that outsourcing has led to increased customer satisfaction, better efficiency, better accuracy and definitely cost reduction. All these factors are highly influential in raising the stock value of a company. It remains to be seen what happens of the US backlash, US being the market that BPO is centered around. The Indian taxman waking up now will also decide what course companies would take, as a lot of competition exists from countries like China and Philippines. Also how the HR strategies adopted by companies to reduce the attrition rates fare remains to be seen.
To be continued…
Sources
1. Pricewaterhouse Analysis.
2. Gartner Study.
3. The Economic Times.
4. The Times of India (July 28,2003).
5. Wipro Spectramind.
Article by Prof A. B.Kasbekar
Contributed by: Disha Arora,Neha Batta, Preeti Surana,Rajorshi Chanda,Rahul Dongre ,Somitra Jain.
