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‘India calling to the far away towns’

Author

Listed:
  • Phil Taylor

    (University of Stirling, UK, philip.taylor@stir.ac.uk)

  • Peter Bain

    (University of Strathclyde, UK)

Abstract

In recent years prominent companies have migrated call centre services to India provoking much-publicized fears for the future of UK employment. This article challenges the widely-held assumption that offshoring voice services is a seamless undertaking, principally through an investigation of the Indian call centre labour process. This enquiry is informed initially by an analysis of the political-economic factors driving offshoring and shaping the forms of work organization to have emerged in India. A critical review of literature on call centre work organization provides a conceptual framework, through which Indian developments are analysed. Data comes from fieldwork conducted in India and a complete audit of the Scottish industry, through which UK trends can be evaluated. We conclude that the Indian industry reproduces in exaggerated and culturally-distinctive forms, a labour process that has proved problematical for employers and employees alike in the UK and elsewhere.

Suggested Citation

  • Phil Taylor & Peter Bain, 2005. "‘India calling to the far away towns’," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 19(2), pages 261-282, June.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:19:y:2005:i:2:p:261-282
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017005053170
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Jeff Hyman & Chris Baldry & Dora Scholarios & Dirk Bunzel, 2003. "Work–Life Imbalance in Call Centres and Software Development," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 41(2), pages 215-239, June.
    2. George Callaghan & Paul Thompson, 2002. "‘We Recruit Attitude’: The Selection and Shaping of Routine Call Centre Labour," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(2), pages 233-254, March.
    3. Stephen Deery & Roderick Iverson & Janet Walsh, 2002. "Work Relationships in Telephone Call Centres: Understanding Emotional Exhaustion and Employee Withdrawal," Journal of Management Studies, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 39(4), pages 471-496, June.
    4. Paul Thompson & George Callaghan & Diane Broek, 2004. "Keeping Up Appearances: Recruitment, Skills and Normative Control in Call Centres," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stephen Deery & Nicholas Kinnie (ed.), Call Centres and Human Resource Management, chapter 6, pages 129-152, Palgrave Macmillan.
    5. David Holman, 2004. "Employee Well-being in Call Centres," Palgrave Macmillan Books, in: Stephen Deery & Nicholas Kinnie (ed.), Call Centres and Human Resource Management, chapter 10, pages 223-244, Palgrave Macmillan.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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