Women Employees In BPO

Today women play a vital role in Indian BPOcareers in call centers.
sector. According to survey out of 400 million ofThe interpersonal skills of women are now being
workforce in India, around 30-40 percent arerecognized and valued in call centers. In most of
females. They are one of the driving forcesthe call centers, a premium is attached to
behind the success of call center industry in India.women’s voice and interpersonal skills. This is
The Indian BPO industry accounts for a revenuebecause the quality of customer care jobs
US$ 39.6 billion and has emerged as one of theultimately helps a company to gain huge profits.
largest private industry providing directThe exact number of women working in Indian
employment to 1.6 million professionals.BPO’s is not exactly known but the
The participation of women in BPO industry hasdevelopment of IT industry in India had a clear
been seen as a critical enabling factor forimpact on emancipation of women.
continued growth of the industry. Today BPOAccording to the studies of village pay phones in
companies are recognizing women on board at allBangladesh, advancement of computer aided
levels and this helps the organization to maketechnologies and networking in India show that
good business sense. Therefore BPO companiesthe household income has increased and women
are trying to develop and involve women forhave a say and mobility in household matters.
higher roles and functions.With introduction of communication technologies
Most of the people talk about exploitation ofand new information the workload of every
women in call centers. Despite the physical stress,woman has increased. They have to do the
mundane nature of the job and low status of callunpaid household chores in addition to the paid
center work, women constitute about 70 percentwork in the BPO industry.
of the total workforce in BPO sector. AccordingThere is no doubt that technology itself is
to an independent research it has been found outgendered and is strongly shaped by the patriarchal
that women are satisfied and enjoy their work atyardstick of class and gender. Despite all these
call centers. A call center job gives them morethe most important issue is to restore and carry
freedom and autonomy.forward the empowered participation of women
Women especially in India have found out that,in the development of technology and enhance
the wages that they earn through a BPO job helpthe participation of women through skills,
them to experience freedom and autonomy. Ineducation and creative knowledge. The Indian BPO
India the women mobility has always beenindustry has set high standards in gender
controlled by men even in case of highly educatedinclusivity. Today women play a vital role as the
and independent women. According to a studypart of the BPO workforce. It has been
carried on call center workers in India, it has beensuggested that the professional skills of women
found that women are happy to learn new skillsneeds to upgrade therefore a number of
and have learnt to become more assertive.mentorship programs are being organized.
The acquired call center skills ranging from softThese programs help women working in BPO to
skills like communication, interpersonal and listeninghave a definite career path and fulfill a certain
skills to product knowledge and technicalcriteria in the empowerment of women. India has
knowledge have given a sense of confidence inthe largest number of women working in
women. This helps them to deal with customersBPO’sthan any other single country in the
as well as society at large. However there areworld. This can be partly attributed to the growth
women who opt for call center career for shortof BPO’s in India.
span of life while others continue to pursue their