Accent issues for BPO
Is the heavy Indian accent behind the 50% Indian operation reduction of a major US outsourcing firm, as well as the service migration to another Asian country?
While Tampa, Florida-based Sykes Enterprise confirms the relocation plan (tantamount to layoffs) for its India call-center facility, it denies the involvement of accent in the issue. The Bangalore call-center is a relative newcomer, having gone on stream barely two-and-a-half years ago.
What Sykes cites instead is Bangalore’s “inadequate rate of returns” – which it had emphasized in its 8-K document filed before the US Securities and Exchange Commission on Thursday.
“It’s a purely financial decision.”
Company Senior director for investor relations, Subhaash Kumar stands by this statement. In an interview with Tampa-based Hindustan Times, he urged the public to disregard reports on the accent factor and pressure by corporate clients on this score.
Speculations flew with a Tampa newspaper citing the Sykes move as a result of complaints from American customers over comprehension problems due to the Indian call-center staffers’ accents. Kumar remains steadfast in denying that he has received any complaints regarding the matter. Analysts closely monitoring Sykes have also chalked up India’s loss as the Philippines’ gain.
Though yet to name an alternative destination, the existing Sykes call center in the Philippines presents itself as a prime choice. It has been in operation since 1997. A Raymond James and Associates senior analyst has been quoted as saying that Filipinos have “less noticeable accents” than Indians. High employee turnover rate in India has also been shown to subject companies to additional expenses for recruitment and training.
In line with the practices of data secrecy most outsourcing firms employ, Sykes refuses to disclose the number of staffers to be laid off in the Bangalore facility – even the number of Indian employees for that matter.
All that can be gleaned from the 8-K document is that Sykes will “migrate” customer call volumes that make up half of the $4 million (approximately Rs 17.5 crore) the Bangalore facility generates annually.
Will this spell a 50% lay-off for the Bangalore staff? Kumar simply says, “No.” Nothing more, nothing else – no further elaborations. When pressed further for numbers, the standard response is issued, “We can’t quantify.” This migration (which covers the Bangalore layoffs, site-infrastructure redeployment, and recruitment at the new offshore facility) is scheduled to be completed within the next few months.
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