Call-center jobs returning to US
The depressed economy has reduced operating costs so much that Indian outsourcing isn't as attractive.
By Kim Peterson on Wed, Aug 18, 2010 2:35 PM
The global economy is changing quickly, causing this unexpected turn: Call-center jobs are coming back to America from India.
Customer-support employees are becoming just as cheap to hire here as in India, the head of a large outsourcing company in India tells the Financial Times.
Blame the high unemployment level in the U.S., which has driven down wages. People are willing to accept less money and are more open to working in low-skilled jobs in customer support.
That's not the case in India, where wages are up 10% this year, the FT reports. Senior outsourcing managers are now asking for more money than the global average.
The chief executive of one company, Genpact, told the FT he expects to triple the number of U.S. employees over the next two years (it employs 1,500 here now).
Americans "are open to be working at home and working at lower salaries than they were used to," he told the newspaper. "We can hire some seasoned executives with experience in the U.S. for less money."
A similar story is playing out at Indian outsourcing giant Wipro, which has begun recruiting workers in other countries and expects to be at 50% non-Indian employment in two years, the FT reports.
