[NYTr] India's outsourcing industry takes toll on workforce

[All the News That Doesn't Fit]

CNN - Dec 25, 2007
http://www.cnn.com/2007/WORLD/asiapcf/12/25/india.outsourcing.ap/index.html?eref=rss_latest


India's outsourcing industry takes toll on workforce

NEW DELHI, India (AP) -- The job came with a good salary, and good
perks.

But, 26-year-old Vaibhav Vats will tell you, it was doing him no good.
His weight had grown to 265 pounds and he was missing out on social
life as he worked long overnight hours at a call center. Eventually, he
quit.

"You are making nice money. But the tradeoff is also big," said Vats,
who spent nearly two years at IBM Corp.'s call center arm in India,
answering customer calls from the United States.

Call centers and other outsourced businesses such as software writing,
medical transcription and back-office work employ more than 1.6 million
young men and women in India, mostly in their 20s and 30s, who make
much more than their contemporaries in most other professions.

They are, however, facing sleep disorders, heart disease, depression
and family discord, according to doctors and several industry surveys.

Experts warn the brewing crisis could undermine the success of India's
hugely profitable outsourcing industry that earns billions in dollars
annually and has shaped much of the country's transformation into an
emerging economic power.

Heart disease, strokes and diabetes cost India an estimated $9 billion
in lost productivity in 2005. But the losses could grow to a staggering
$200 billion over the next 10 years if corrective action is not taken
quickly, said a study by New Delhi-based Indian Council for Research on
International Economic Relations.

The outsourcing industry would be hardest hit, it warned.

Reliable estimates on the number of people affected are hard to come
by, but government officials and experts agree that it is a growing
problem. Health Minister Anbumani Ramadoss wants to enforce a special
health policy for employees in the information technology industry.

"After working, they party for the rest of the time ... (They) have bad
diet, excessive smoking and drinking," he said at a public meeting last
month. "We don't want these young people to burn out."

The minister's comments have since infuriated the technology sector,
which says it has been unfairly singled out for problems that also
exist in other professions.

The outsourcing industry has come under fire because the sedentary
lifestyle of its employees combined with often stressful working
conditions makes them more vulnerable to heart disease, digestive
problems and weight gain than others. Some complain of psychological
distress.

Most call center jobs involve responding to phone calls through the
night from customers in the United States and Europe -- some of whom
can be angry and rude. It is monotonous and there is little meaningful
personal interaction among co-workers. That can also be true of other
jobs such as software writing and back-office work.

"There are times when the stress is so overwhelming that they fail to
cope with it. Then they come to us," said Archana Bisht who set up a
counseling company, 1to1help.net, in Bangalore six years ago.

Her clientele has since grown to 25 companies -- seven of them were
added in the past two months -- including such names as Intel Corp.,
IBM Corp., Hewlett Packard Co. and Mindtree Consulting Ltd.

Each day, about 60 to 70 employees at these companies seek counseling
from 1to1help.net. The complaints are many, but marital incompatibility
and relationship issues top the list, Bisht said, often because the
long, odd working hours means couples don't have much time together.

More women than men ask for help, she said. The outsourcing boom has
created new employment opportunities for Indian women, but there has
been little change in social expectations. Adding workplace demands to
responsibilities at home, which often includes taking care of in-laws,
leaves women workers with multiple stresses, Bisht said.

Loneliness can also take a toll.

"There is no social life," said Vats, who worked at night and either
slept or watched television during the day. "You are not meeting new
people."

The industry is getting sensitive to these problems.

The National Association of Software Services Companies, the main trade
body of the outsourcing industry, said many of its member firms are
already providing facilities like advice on health, gyms and money for
regular checkups.

Companies like Infosys Technologies Ltd. have set up 24-hour helplines
for counseling by psychologists, while others have tied up with
companies like 1to1help.net. Some like HCL Technologies Ltd. have built
daycare centers for children and routinely sponsor group outings by
their employees.

But the industry insists it would do nothing to impose any lifestyle on
its employees.

"We do not think it is for companies or for the government to interfere
in the personal life of adult Indians," NASSCOM said in a statement.

Also, there is little it can do to change the nighttime work hours of
many outsourcing jobs.

"The odd hours can play havoc with your health," said Vats. "I never
got good sleep because everyone was up and getting ready to go to work
when I got home ... Your diet goes for a toss. You get acidity, develop
gastric problems."

Vats' weight has dropped to 214 pounds since leaving IBM Daksh two
years ago. He's still overweight for his 5 feet 9 inch frame, but is
much happier now working with a law firm for a much lower salary.

A recent survey by Dataquest magazine and technology consulting company
IDC showed sleep disorders topped health complaints among outsourcing
industry workers.

About 32 percent of respondents complained of sleep disorders; 25
percent had digestive troubles; and 20 percent reported eyesight
problems, said the survey, which covered 1,749 employees at 19
outsourcing companies.

Yet, they would not talk about it openly. Several call center employees
contacted by the Associated Press admitted to having many of these
ailments, but they refused to be named or identify their employer.

Sleep and digestive disorders, doctors say, can grow into bigger
problems: hypertension, diabetes and heart disease.

Doctors say the rise in these diseases, alongside growing urbanization
and fast-paced economic growth, is not surprising.

But India's case is alarming because of the sheer number of people
affected and the factors that make them vulnerable to these diseases,
said Ravi Kasliwal, a cardiologist at New Delhi's Indraprastha Apollo
Hospital. These include India's fat-rich diet, genetic factors make
them highly vulnerable to diabetes, and abdominal obesity that gives
rise to insulin resistance and heart disease.

"To top it all, there is lack of awareness," Kasliwal said. "One out of
10 persons aged 35 years or more in this country is prone to heart
attack."

Heart disease is projected to account for 35 percent of deaths among
India's working age population between 2000 and 2030, Kasliwal said,
citing a World Health Organization study. That number is about 12
percent for the United States, 22 percent for China and 25 percent for
Russia.

"This is a very serious issue for this country," Kasliwal said. "But
nobody wants to talk about it."