By Tungnung, Zamlunmang Zou
The recent examination conducted by The Delhi Times suggests that call centres are no longer regarded as the attractive alternative workplaces they once were. What had initially appeared to be a promising career option for Generation X has, in many cases, turned into a source of disillusionment. The attraction seems to have gradually given way to repulsion. The dropout rate among employees in the 20–30 age group is reportedly rising alongside the rapid growth of the industry, while the profile and expectations of call-centre professionals are also undergoing significant change.
Despite its disadvantages, the call-centre industry has been one of the fastest-growing segments of India's information-technology sector, both in terms of employment generation and revenue. The IT-enabled services sector, particularly Call Centres and Business Process Outsourcing (ITES-BPO), expanded rapidly during this period. According to NASSCOM, the apex industry association representing India's software and services companies, the sector added approximately 70,000 jobs in a single financial year. NASSCOM also projected that by 2008, the customer-interaction services sector would provide around 270,000 jobs.
