Outsourcing and the loves and lives of the night
Workplace Blog’s Ed Frauenheim tackles a different aspect of offshoring’s effect on people’s lives. Aside from the usual gripes on the long late hours, unpaid overtimes and lack of career growth, the outsource workplace is now also breeding ground for intimate office relationships.
An India press article has shown how intimacy in the workplace has been integrated into the workers’ normal lives. With the amount of time spent in the workplace, it comes as no surprise that the professional domain is transformed more into personal spaces. "From making friends to cultivating relationships, BPO units are slowly becoming hubs where inter-personal bonding takes place," The Economic Times story shows, and furthers, "And it comes as little surprise that many also give vent to their sexual urges in the office space."
Involved in the story is footage from a camera of a leading Mumbai-based contact center showing a couple having sex in the office setting. The employees have learned to live under close surveillance – camera surveillance especially – to address the privacy issue of clients jittery about their data’s security. This throws into light however, the whole new lifestyle developed because of the environment. Is it the long hours, the feelings of isolation, the culture?
Whatever it is, it has firmed up the resolve of Indian BPO workers to make the most out of the outsourced life they lead. Down to getting up close and personal.
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