BPO Union asks for bailout for employees, not companies

The BPO Union has been weighing the options for many weeks now. Taking time has also given us the opportunity to look (and re-look) at what others have to say. There is an agreed opinion among a sizable section of employees.

A Govt bailout should be for employees, not companies. It may sound weird without an explanation, so please give us your undivided attention to present facts and logic. Do feel free to decide for yourself as to what should work and what shouldn’t.

• Since the Govt wants to help, the best way should be to intervene with direct support to employees. Let their salaries be cut by 10-15%, and an additional 15% subsidy only for the salary bill be given to the companies for employee salaries.
  
• For the politician this may just be another popular, yet logically workable option. Let us not forget that early 2009 is an election year for Lok Sabha and the politician cannot overlook approximately 1,200,000 people directly employed by the BPO & IT industries combined. Let him/her evaluate how this program, can be converted to votes, and it can be!
• The US Dollar is touching a high again. No company seems to be happy talking about it. We just want you to keep this detail in mind while evaluating the ‘full’ picture.
• Attrition, by the self-admission of associations and companies alike, is touching a new low. Coupled with the above this will definitely impact the bottom line very positively.
• A very large number of well settled companies – mainly the top 40 – which account for the most part of the BPO employee strength as well as revenues, are getting up the value chain with better billing.
• There is enough evidence that higher-end work is flowing our way, specially the LPO – KPO – Accounting – Finance etc which is where the US and other developed nations need cost and skilled manpower support.
• Only on an assurance that not a single job will be sacrificed without adequate reason, and definitely no mass lay-offs. We have the opinion of more than 1000 employees and they are in total agreement to the suggestion if it can help ease the companies of some financial burden and let us keep our jobs.
• Companies who are riding up the value chain may also be given additional support for training their staff. This and the two points above it will combine to give a desirable end.
• The major flaw in ‘only supporting companies’ is that the Govt will not be able to ensure if the benefits are passed down to employees or they are billed as retained earnings/ profits by companies.
• Many who argue against a subsidy in this case must please look at the way that Govt has been giving out subsidies to sectors where, sometimes, there is no business case to do so. For the BPO industry we have a big case since we earn a lot of foreign exchange, there is so much of employment and in the end all employees contribute towards income tax collections of the Govt of India.

On the exit may we conclusively add that these ideas are the ‘intellectual ideation’ of the BPO Union, since we know that many others will soon gather to scavenge on the limelight that it might get with the media.

Chief
(BPO Union 2.0)