Calls for help to NJ welfare program routed to India

AP ^ | 3-6-2002

[Cagey]

TRENTON -- Residents who call a customer service center seeking help with problems with their electronic welfare and food stamp cards are being routed to a call center in India.

An Arizona company hired by the state to run the toll-free service line moved the 24-hour, English-language operation from Green Bay, Wis., to Bombay, India, where the labor market is cheaper. New Jersey's Spanish speaking clients are directed to the Wisconsin center.

[Vladiator]

And yet we're settng up tarrifs for steel?

[2Trievers]

Yeah ... New Jersey welfare recipients can learn a lot from Calcutta ...

[Cagey]

If only he had adopted a North American name he'd be working a phone bank somewhere and eating at McDonalds.

[ZULU]

To be honest, there are many cities in New Jersey which resemble Bombay - on a bad day.

[2Trievers]

"eating at McDonalds"

Hindus don't eat beef ... so besides changing his name, he could always change his religion, on his way back from a shopping spree at Ralph Lauren.

[Beata]

You mean you haven't noticed the hindu cow on a giant bun down at your local McFoneyald? Special treat from Jezey Devils.

[luckyluke]

Sorry to burst your bubble, but many companies already outsource their call-center needs to India. The employees are trained in using an American accent and told to adopt fake American names and life histories so customers can't tell the difference.

[Cagey]

You didn't burst my bubble luke. I just ran the story. I've been aware that many companies outsource customer service and telemarketing business. My ISP has their customer service farmed out to an independant company in Western Canada and they answer their calls as if they are direct employees of Comcast.

[CIB-173RDABN]

Eliminate minimum wage, and watch the number of jobs open up. Let the market place set the wage.

A minimum wage makes that very first step into the job market very difficult. Eliminate it, and employers will over look some things. Also, a lot of "work" gets left undone, or put off because it is not worth minimum wage labor to do it.