Have you had a bad experience talking to a call centre in India?
Perhaps you have, but have you thought of the stress of people working there?
A 23-year-old man, barely out of college, has been recovering from a heart attack in hospital. The doctor's diagnosis: modern lifestyle - stress and odd hours of work.
He works at a call centre in Mumbai
His colleagues at the call centre where he works are. Says one of his best friends and colleague: "I'm leaving. Have been planning to for sometime.
"As soon as I get another job, even if it's less paying, I will leave this industry for good."
The youth of India seem to have fallen out of love with the call centre industry.
Even before the impact of the economic crisis could be felt on India's $11bn business process outsourcing (BPO) industry, which gets 70% of all the outsourced work from the US, it was in the grip of a crisis of its own.
Several companies, mostly smaller ones unable to maintain international standards, have shut down in Mumbai and Delhi.
Young men and women in call and contact centres across India are overworked and stressed out.
Many are leaving the industry.
Those who have left say they quit because it was frustrating to continue to answer calls day after day, year after year.
No creativity, no use of mind required. Some say their minds have become cabbage.
Staff in call centres say they have been shocked at the ferocity of the verbal attacks they encounter
British callers may be infuriated when they discover that the company they are telephoning has moved its customer service centre to India.
But their frustration is as nothing compared with the heart attacks, ulcers and insomnia afflicting those on the other end of the line.
Research carried out by India's booming call centre industry has found the 1.6 million people who work in them, mostly in their twenties, are plagued by ailments arising from the stress of dealing with irate customers.
Staff in call centres dealing with customers in Britain say they have been shocked at the ferocity of the verbal attacks they encounter.
Nidhi Aggarwal, 24, said she had never heard some of the insulting language used - including the word "Paki" as a term of abuse - before she began taking orders for a British catalogue company, which routes its customers' calls to a Bangalore call centre.
"At first, I thought I'd get used to it, but it's been a year now and it's not getting easier," she said."
Miss Aggarwal, an English graduate, said she planned to quit, tired of wishing customers a good morning only to hear: "Oh, I'm through to India am I? Put me through to someone who can understand English, you f** cow."
Some companies offer counselling to employees to help them overcome psychological problems.
The Indian government is so concerned about the problem that it is preparing to launch a health strategy for the workers.
(Extracts from Telegraph articles)
technomist
Many of the people I have spoken to from these places have been barely functioning in English. I have little sympathy for the people who work there.
They have taken jobs that British workers should have had without having the qualities required by the British consumer to be able to fill the posts. All companies which use Indian call centres do is annoy their customers.