We attempt here to share some knowledge which could be useful to the BPO community. We will list questions even if we don't have answers for them. Hopefully, one of you will respond to those queries. Please do feel free to correct/improve the knowledgeBase.

1. What is the job growth in the BPO sector when compared to other sectors?
   

   Industry	New Employees	Period
   Telecom	10,000	January-December 2002
   IT Enabled Services	50,000	April 2002 - March 2003
   Software Services	30,000	April 2002 - March 2003
   Retailing/Franchising	35,000	April 2002 - March 2003

2. What skills are required to work in each of the verticals?
   

   SEGMENTS	SKILLS
   Call center	Good communication and language skills, accent understanding team leadership, basic computing skills
   Remote customer interaction	Language and accent understanding
   Date search, Integration	Computing, language and analytical skills
   Human Resource Services	Country specific HR policies, rules and regulations
   Remote education	Subject knowledge, computing and language skills
   Engineering and design	Technical and engineering design and computing skills
   Translation, medical transcription and Localisation	Language understanding, basic computing (word processing knowledge) and understanding of various medical terminologies
   Animation	Drawing and creative skills, computer graphic skills
   Finance and accounting	International/ country specific accounting rules
   Market Research	Understanding statistical sales and marketing concepts
   Network Consultancy and management	Understanding different network configurations and support equipment, technical/ computing skills

3. Segment wise break-up of the new Jobs in 2005
   • IT & IT Services - An estimated 70,000 new Jobs expected in 2005. Plus there will be additional hiring to replace industry attrition that is around 25%
   • BPO and Outsourcing services - Around 1,25,000 new Jobs expected in 2005.
   • Retailing and Lifestyle - It will create close to 25,000 Jobs directly and more than twice the number indirectly.
   • Biotechnology - It is expected to create around 5,000 - 7,000 highly skilled jobs.
4. What are the current salaries in the BPO world in India?
   • Customer Care Representatives [CSRs]: Rs 8,000 - Rs 15,000 per month
   • Team Leaders: Rs 17,000 - Rs 26,000 per month
   • Managers: Rs 3 lacs - Rs 5.5 lacs per annum
   • Training Heads: Rs 8 lacs - Rs 12 lacs per annum
   • Training Managers: Rs 5 lacs - Rs 8 lacs per annum
   • Trainers: Rs 2 lacs - Rs 5 lacs per annum

   Specialized ITeS professionals who posses MBA, BE, B.Tech, C.A. [CPA] and other expert qualifications or experience may be paid higher salaries depending upon the expertise required for the desired work profile and their level of experience. Frankly, this doesn't apply to just BPO field but to all fields.

   Besides the salary employees are paid incentives depending upon attendance regualrity, achievement of targets. Don't be surprised if the incentive exceeds the salary!

   Note: Rs 1 lac = Rs 100,000
   This was last modified on June 21, 2004. We observed that only the CSR and Team Leader salaries are changing.

5. What is the cost of accent training?

   The training costs for an employee in a call centre are quite prohibitive, ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 for 2-5 months session. For large size call centres that have high attrition it makes sense to have an inhouse trainer [but what if the trainer itself leaves ;-) ?]. We strongly feel neutral accent will become more popular than American/British accent. However, the need for American/British culture training will always be there.

6. Do you have any statistics of the number of employees in Indian call centres?
   

   Company	Number of Employees
   EXL	4,500
   Spectramind	2,600
   Daksh	2,000
   WNS	1,600
   vCustomer	1,500
   Tracmail	1,365
   HCL e-serve	870
   Epicentre	700
   ICICI OneSource	650
   GTL	650
   Source: Nasscom ITES directory September 2002

   Captive Centres	Number of Employees
   GE Capital	12,000
   e-serve International	3,149
   eFunds	1,646
   HSBC	1,128
   Healthscribe India	1,126
   American Express	979
   Sitel India	584
   Global e:Business Operations (HP)	475
   Axa Global	350
   Source: Nasscom ITES directory September 2002

7. Do you have any statistics regarding number of employees Vs revenues sector wise in India?
   

   Growth trend of the outsourcing industry
   Service Area	2002-03
   	Employment	Revenue (in $m)
   Customer care	65,000	810
   Finance	24,000	510
   HR	2,100	45
   Payment service	11,000	210
   Administration	25,000	310
   Content development	44,000	465
   Total	1,71,100	2,350
   Source: Nasscom

8. Do you have any statistics/projections of employment vs revenues?

   Click here to see the statistics

9. What is the sex ratio in the ITeS sector?

   As of March 2003, the male:female ratio is 35:65.

10. Do you have any Voice Vs Non-Voice statistics?
    

    Voice Vs Non-Voice
    Company	Revenues ($ Million)	Employees	Voice: Non-Voice
    Wipro Spectramind	41	5,000	80:20
    Daksh eServices	35	4,000	70:30
    OfficeTiger	25	1,000	0:100
    HCL Technologies BPO	?	2,346	90:10
    ICICI OneSource	?	2,175	70:30
    World Network Services	35	2,500	65:35
    exl Service.com	28	2,300	75:25
    MsourcE	20	3,162	93:7
    Hinduja TMT	24	1,400	66:34
    Tracmail	11	1,000	50:50
    Progeon	4.4	685	30:70
    Source: Business World (4 August 2003)

11. How do the salaries of voice vs non-voice employees compare?

    Typically an employee in a voice call center costs about 15% more than in a non-voice center.

12. Are there any metrics related to communication skills in India?

    Following is the performance of graduates in the MeritTrac Spoken English Test

    National Index Of Communication Skills
    Region	Voice Clarity	Accent Neutrality	Fluency	Grammar	National Index
    East	84.80%	33.60%	29.20%	23.00%	85
    North	52.79%	35.28%	32.36%	33.69%	60
    South	94.27%	13.29%	22.71%	13.78%	38
    West	71.73%	23.86%	23.71%	21.43%	44
    All India	90.91%	15.71%	23.43%	15.41%	41
    Tier I Cities	86.71%	21.66%	27.74%	20.40%	48
    Tier II Cities	94.86%	10.12%	19.39%	10.73%	25

    Overall throughput for graudates: 10 per cent

    Source: MeritTrac

13. What is the attrition rate in the ITeS sector?

    BPOs in India are expected to employ around one million people by 2008, but the challenger is to find quality human resources given the current attrition rate of around 35-40%. Currently it is about 35% in non-voice and 45% in voice call centers. However what the number don't show is that more than 60% of those who leave a particular BPO do not leave for a competitor, but leave the industry as a whole. Here lies the danger for this sector and the challenge for HR consultants.

    Agents want to become team leaders. Team leaders want to become supervisors. Supervisors wants the job of the CEO.

    At an attrition rate of 40%, the cost of attrition in the industry is 1.5 times the annual salary.

    Some of the reasons could be

    • Many see this space to be an Internet sweatshop where all that the employees are required to do is just mechanically input numbers into excel sheets or, worse still, answer phone calls inthe same tone and repeat the same lines at least 100 times a day/night.
    • People who join a BPO usually do so to make a 'quick' buck. They are bound to quit because sooner or later they will find something more attractive in terms of the job profile and/or pay.
    • The industry has concentrated on hiring young, dynamic and these are looking for more than just a job.
    • Talent in this space is generally overlooked, which leaves the deserving few disgruntled with top management and hence fosters attrition.

    To fix this problem BPO firms are trying to solve this big problem

    • By hiring mature talent [i.e. people over 35 years in age].
    • HR must realise that fatter pay cheques can never be a sure-shot way to retain employees. More important aspects like a secure career, benefits, perks and communication cannot be overlooked at any level.
    • Employee rentention must be the focus, which means that talent must be recognized and suitably rewarded.
    • Hire outstation candidates (from small towns) and provided them with shared accomodation.
    • Offer management diplomas and MBA courses.
    • Only 5 out of 150 employees become team leaders in a year, hence cash incentives is one way to keep the employees happy. Daksh shells out about Rs 4,000 bonus per onth to almost 85% of its workforce.
    • Use psychometric tests to get people who can work at night and handle the monotony.
    • BPO must concentrate on becoming an 'employer of choice'. A comprehensive process framework and access to proper infrastructure in the work place goes a long way in retaining employees, as a congenial work environment is critical.
14. Do you have any statistics that compare Attrition Rates across industries?
    

    Sr. No	Sector	0-3 years	4-7 years	8-12 years	13+ years	% change from 2006 to 2007	Expected increase in 2008
    1	Pharma & Chemicals	25.00%	10.00%	5.00%	2.00%	-5.00%	6.00%
    2	Manufacturing	8.58%	2.46%	2.46%	3.00%	5.00%	-3.50%
    3	Financial Services	20.00%	20.00%	20.00%	20.00%
    4	Hospitality	35.00%	25.00%	20.00%	7.50%	13.00%	20.00%
    5	Ad & Media	40.00%	35.00%	20.00%	15.00%	17.00%	22.00%
    6	BPO	40.00%	30.00%	20.00%	10.00%
    7	Automobile	7.00%	3.00%	2.00%	2.00%	No visible	14.00%
    8	Auto Component	12.00%	15.00%	20.00%	12.00%	5.00%	6.00%
    9	Banking	10.00%	5.00%	2.50%	2.50%	2.00%	2.00%
    10	Infrastructure	16.00%	11.00%	7.00%	11.00%	9.00%	20.00%
    11	IT & Telecom	32.00%	25.00%	10.00%	5.00%	5.00%	9.00%

    Source: Emmay HR / BusinessWorld, 4 Feb 2008

15. How good is the quality of English in India?

    According to McKinsey, apart from Mumbai, Delhi and Bangalore, the quality of graduates applying for jobs in the ITeS industry needs to improve. India produces over 100,000 graduates every year but the quality of English is not very good in small towns.

    Our view: Needless to say this report is worrysome. We sincerely hope the fanatics in the political circles stop hindering English education in India. This kind of policy will only encourage clients to move to Philippines, Ireland and Singapore.

16. Any details about English Proficiency in India?
    

    English Proficiency
    City	Clarity	Accent	Fluency	Grammar	All aspects
    Bangalore	37%	14%	16%	13%	9%
    Chennai	42%	28%	26%	28%	12%
    Delhi	45%	28%	27%	29%	16%
    Kolkata	27%	21%	21%	21%	13%
    Mumbai	23%	17%	18%	16%	11%

    (Source: MeritTrac's recent country-wide study to evaluate
    Indian English Speakers. Over 5,000 people across five cities in the
    country were part of the sample.)

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