The major challenges faced by
the Indian call center industry are:
Market Maturity : India is one of the
longest-serving markets for offshore contact center services. Because of
this, western investors are aware of its capabilities, and many have
already established operations there. Thus, the relatively slow growth
is reflective of Indias mature positioning on the offshore product life
cycle.
Increased Competition : Philippines, South Africa,
Central and Eastern Europe and North Africa are continuously making
efforts to increase the market value of their call center industry.
HR Issues : The call center industry currently
employs more than 171,000 professionals compared to a 25,000 in 1999.
However, India is running out of the supply of good quality managerial
talent.
Infrastructure : Most cities still face power
outages and water shortages, and are heavily dependent on backup
supplies.
Increasing Labour Costs : Overall salary levels
have gone up by 20-25% in the last 12-18 months in major Contact Centre
clusters across India.
Margins Under Pressure : With increasing
competition and subsequent price dips, the margins these companies have
come under tremendous pressure.
Attrition : Indian BPO attrition rates are far too
high, with levels over 50% p.a. This inevitably impacts service levels
and impedes ongoing improvements.
Security : Although India compares well with
competing destinations on the security matrix, awareness about security
issues is still low. Data security is an important issue and needs to be
tackled on multiple fronts - regulation (to keep out unscrupulous
players who spoil the fair name of India), robust processes, systems,
and training.
Health Concerns : One has to sacrifice social life,
time and health. The odd working hours is a major issue. As health
problems, arising from tampering with the biological clock of the
employees, become more pronounced the lure of BPO and IT-enabled
services will go away.
Necessity Bilingualism : Apart from English, most
Indian contact centers are unable to service other languages like
Spanish, French, Mandarin and Cantonese.
