Outsourcing is a popular way for companies to get specific tasks done overseas for a fraction of what it would cost domestically. However, outsourcing destinations such as India, Philippines, and other countries have a finite limit of skilled human resources. Global outsourcing is growing in many countries by a rate exceeding 10% per year, often much higher than that. However, it is less clear how quickly the labor force can be replenished. India has been having a skilled labor shortage for several years, and the consequences are devastating for many companies.
It is common for Indian workers in the outsourcing industry to jump from company to company seeking better benefits, better pay, and overall better conditions. Each time an employee jumps, it costs the mother company a pretty penny to retrain a new employee to fill their space. In the long run, it seems obvious that higher wages will be the reality for BPO workers in India in many sectors. Supply and demand are always in flux in any industry, but eventually, reality sets in, and bosses realize that they need to pay workers well to keep them. Additionally, they need comfortable recreation rooms, delicious lunches, and maybe even prettier secretaries. These workers these days have endless agendas on their check lists for who to work for!
One of the solutions being offered in the Philippines is more free educational courses. Prospective employees would be trained to do outsourcing work, and English teachers will also be trained. The only way to bring more trained employees into the workplace is to train individuals who are not already trained!
On a sadder note, India is filled with semi-literate job-seekers who are simply not qualified for any type of outsourcing job. There doesn’t seem to be a place where they can go to quickly brush-up on their language skills. Sentence structure, grammar, and punctuation are all missing in their writing. It would occur to many that thinking skills among these semi-literate individuals are also vacant, although that is an extrapolation!