Survey: BPOs survival under threat
Poor working conditions in Business Process Outsourcing firms threatens the survival and profitability of the sector globally, a new survey shows.
This new development is putting to question Kenya’s hope of becoming a call centre hub.
The International Labour Organisation (ILO) says workers in BPOs are exposed to heavy workloads, high performance targets and tight rules, lowering their output and raising staff turnover.
The ILO study conducted globally, but with specific focus on leading BPO destinations such as Argentina, Brazil, India and the Philippines, says poor working conditions have in some companies increased employee turnover to 100 per cent annually, posing a serious threat to the companies’ survival and profitability.
“BPO employees face heavy workloads backed by performance targets combined with tight rules and procedures. All this is enforced via electronic monitoring. This type of high-strain work organisation is well-known to produce high levels of job-related stress, ” says Jon Messenger, Senior Researcher with the Conditions of Work and Employment Programme of the ILO.
“Monotonous and unpleasant tasks (such as dealing with difficult customers over the phone) constitute a tailor-made recipe for stress-related hazards, ” said Mr Messenger.
The threat to the BPO industry comes at a time when the country is focusing its efforts towards tapping into the concept.
Kenya hopes to grow its BPO industry to help create at least 80,000 jobs and generate Sh45 billion in revenues in the next four years.
Pegged as the growth sector in the country’s economic blueprint, Vision 2030, the industry has struggled to beat high operating costs, high staff turnover and low level awareness of Kenya as a BPO destination.
Local BPO players, however, said the problem of poor working conditions is minimal in the country.
“The story is different in Kenya where working conditions are attractive, largely because employees are enlightened about their rights, labour laws are tight and the management style is more friendly, ” said Nick Nesbitt, the chief executive officer at KenCall Limited, a BPO firm.
“The only problem we have had in selected cases is employers failing to meet their pay obligations,” said Gilda Odera, the chairperson of BPO/ITES Working Group in the office of the Prime Minister.
To curb the worsening working conditions, ILO is calling for stronger protective measures for night workers to help cushion their health and safety, a redesign of work processes, especially in call centres, in order to allow BPO employees more discretion to make use of their qualifications; and policies and practices aimed at improving workers’ collective voice.
The report says some companies have suffered a big blow from the ongoing global economic crisis especially in the Eurozone, which could hit the industry although only in the short term.
But cost-cutting measures and increasingly sophisticated technologies — are unlikely to diminish and could even accelerate in the medium to long term, offering the sector the much needed cushion to stay afloat.
