Hell@work, but the 'cyber coolie' is cool

Many call centre staffers tend to remain loyal despite work-related stress.

AHMEDABAD: It's a hard life, but the 'cyber coolie' isn't complaining.

Despite the stress, night shifts, stringent performance evaluation norms, constant monitoring, and frequent abuse from international customers, call centre employees stay passive and loyal to employers, a study by the Indian Institute of Management, Ahmedabad, has found.

Why? Because the employees are mainly freshers, and the industry pays well.

"Most of them are graduates who would not earn the Rs20,000 or so they get, and the resultant standard of living, in any other sector," say Premilla D'Cruz and Ernesto Noronha, who conducted the study. "The perks, parties, and plush offices add to the glamour."

Organisations also use a mix of techno-bureaucratic and socio-ideological controls to make employees loyal and pliable.

Techno-bureaucratic controls include stringent performance evaluation and monitoring. Cameras and 'barging' (listening in) on calls keep

the employees on their toes. Socio-ideological controls, which are more subtle, involve socialising the employee into the culture of the organisation and regulating his identity, says D'Cruz.

Consequently, employees accept the demand to cultivate an accent, use pseudonyms and even hide the fact that they are speaking from India, she says. They do not have a problem with shifts lasting for eight hours with an hour's break in two parts and accept the monotony of a job that has earned them the sobriquet of 'cyber coolies'.  

In fact, employees have to seek the permission of a team leader to leave their seats. They are sometimes denied leave even when sick and can be fired without notice.

Agents have to sometimes attend up to 350 calls a day. According to Noronha, "Some employees 'drop' calls, ie, do not take calls assigned to them. But on the whole they would rather leave an organisation than criticise or confront their employer."

The study found that most call-centre employees are focused and serious. "Many are pursuing an MBA or supporting their families," say the researchers. "The way the media portrays them — blowing up money, drinking, smoking, and being sexually promiscuous - is not necessarily true."

The survey interviewed 82 call centre employees in the 19-27 age group in Mumbai and Bangalore, over a period of two years.