Unionization worries BPO sector

BANGALORE: "We need to be careful about unionization of the workforce in the BPO sphere in India," was Sujit Baksi, CEO, HCL Technologies-BPO Services, clear reply to a question on the formation of unions among call center workers in India.

"Unions have been proved over time to appear in jobs that are monotonous and repetitive. This criterion makes call centers prime targets. We need to be careful about union formation in India simply because of the nature of the same. Unlike their foreign counterparts, political influences are felt to a large extent in our unions. That’s why one should be careful," he added.






He also stated that HCL maintained three different centers in Delhi with 600 people each, in other words smaller units, to avoid the formation of unions which are an increased possibility among large numbers.

Speaking on the challenges and benefits involved in the acquisition of call centers outside India supported by HCL’s example in obtaining Apollo Contact Center in Belfast he said, "I have come to realize that 100% of the transactional activity that customers want performed will never reach India.






To narrow it further, 20% of functions will never be outsourced and the customer will prefer to retain 30% of outsourced function close to shore. That means India’s possibility reaches its limit at 50%."

He stated this, along with cost and ideal location for shift work, as the driving reasons behind HCL’s acquisition of Apollo. The company obtained 90% of the Apollo Contact Center in 2001 for $13.2 million with a guaranteed business of $31.5 million over three years. Originally starting out with UK clients, the call center now offers services to a few US customers also.

He spoke at length on the various challenges that HCL faced during the acquisition, mostly related to the workforce and the market.

"There were 300 people within the organization when we took it over. All of them were highly apprehensive about their job security under the new management and suspicious of its business objectives. Apart from this, no one, including the management of British Telecom from whom we acquired the call center, were completely free from prejudice towards the colour of our skins," he said.

Added to this were challenges connected with changing a captive mindset to a more market-savvy one, improving of work practices to meet speed and quality demands and structural integration to form one whole complete identity.

"We managed to overcome all those challenges. Today, we have increased our base in Belfast to 600 people. We offer services in seven languages and operate on shifts that last on an average for four hours," he said.

HCL operates an employee exchange program by which call center workers from one location have the option of working in another for periods of time.