| Outsourcing to India has become almost a | | | | infrastructure which allows firms to compete with |
| catchphrase, something people assume is happening in | | | | fewer communications and technology issues, although |
| droves, and which is affecting business in the U.S. in a | | | | it is true that call delay from India to U.S. is sometimes |
| dramatic way. It is true that many U.S. companies | | | | a factor and can frustrate customer service efforts. |
| outsource to India as a means of cutting costs and | | | | People in India tend to have very good English skills as |
| trimming back their workforce, but why is India as the | | | | well, which gives them an advantage for outsourcing |
| place to go for business outsourcing? | | | | when compared to countries like China, where the |
| Well, India has several built-in advantages for those | | | | workforce may not be as well versed in English. India |
| looking to outsource work, especially in the areas of | | | | has made huge strides in public education over the |
| programming, customer service, and other technical | | | | past two decades, increasing primary school |
| and communications functions. India is known especially | | | | attendance rates and expanding literacy to about |
| for its massive call centers, where trained | | | | two-thirds of the population. They also have an |
| representatives handle calls from U.S. customers, often | | | | excellent university system producing many highly |
| using "Americanized" names in place of their own. The | | | | skilled workers and technical experts. Given the |
| time difference between India and the U.S. means | | | | country's large population, this provides a huge potential |
| many of these call center reps are working in the | | | | workforce for overseas companies looking for |
| middle of the night, but a whole industry has been built | | | | educated and trained labor. |
| in India around this fact, as many call centers are open | | | | Outsourcing to India is a popular option for American |
| 24 hours a day, 7 days a week to accommodate | | | | businesses, as there are immediate cost savings that |
| customer needs. | | | | can be generated by bringing on a trained team with |
| The Indian government has done a lot to encourage | | | | proven skills. The best advice is usually to go with a |
| and develop the outsource business in India; even | | | | large outsourcing firm that can illustrate the track |
| allowing complete foreign ownership of BPO | | | | record and work history of each individual employee |
| businesses as a means of maximizing local | | | | and make this information readily available to |
| employment, which is evident especially in the IT area. | | | | prospective clients. |
| The country also has an excellent telecommunications | | | | |