In Bangalore, the cheery, chaty voice at the other end of your computer care helpline may be a stressed out, sleep-deprived and depressed twenty something. As many people in India’s outsourcing industry are beginning to discover, underneath the heady promise of an exciting job, a good paycheck and attractive careers prospects lie long spells of the night shifts, ruthless targets and the dreadful monotony of writing code or pacifying angry customers. The outsourcing industry has long been hailed as a key driver to India’s rise as a global economic power. The growth is beginning to take its toll on its workers who labor for the long hours in the stressful work environments to meet tight deadlines for the customers thousands of miles away.
The workers are suffering from the obesity, sleep disorders, depression and the broken relationships. The problem which can lead to a more serious conditions such as diabetes or the heart disease. In the country where a public healthcare system is virtually non-existent, overworked outsourcing employees that could present a health crisis in the making. Employees are now particularly worried about the job security. The troubles have worsened since the start of the global economic downturn. The number of workers that coming in with the mental issues like depression, bi-polar disorder and suicidal tendencies.
Most of the workers struggle to make the transition from the college campus to the office environment and find they cannot cope with the stress, this is according to the Aashu Calapa, he is the Vice President of the human resources for outsourcing firm Firstsource Solutions. The industry loses a slice of its workers solely to work stress. An employee with a multinational firms captive outsourced unit in Bangalore, has just been discharged from the weeks stay in the hospital. For being near- religious about eating correctly and getting adequate sleep and exercise. All it took was a schedule that went to out-of-whack for a week for him to land up in the hospital with acute gastric problems. The doctors advised him to ease off alcohol and the better manage work stress.
Most of the outsourcing workers are in their early 20s, just out of college and in their first jobs and often feel they are invincible, partying, shopping and the living a reckless life on a new found economic freedom soon begin to take their toll. TO relieve a week’s pressure at the work and to keep up with the peers that they often indulge in the chain smoking and the binge drinking. Not everyone is tough enough to handle the pressure and the lifestyle along with the health. The invariable casualty is the family and relationships. The globalization and the outsourcing industry in the particular have brought.
REFERENCE:
http://www.zdnet.com/news/india-outsourcing-workers-stressed-to-the-limit/334715
