IT Sweatshops Breaking Indians

Wired News ^ | July 11, 2003 | Manu Joseph

[John Jorsett]

MUMBAI, India -- Outsourcing tech jobs to India has caused turmoil for workers in the United States and Europe. But it seems it's causing turmoil for Indians, as well.

An estimated 50,000 young English-speaking Indians who work in call centers here are exposed to a host of health problems. They are usually in their early 20s, just out of college and up all night answering tech calls.

[savedbygrace]

Start talking about dinner. You know, a thick juicy steak. And don't forget to mention how comfy your LEATHER chair is.

Guaranteed to get you top notch tech support.

[Pikachu_Dad]

sounds like all the normal problems associated with life and aging to me.

[right-sidedNYer]

How long till someone realizes that offering a person $500 to a person that makes $5k a year is enough of an incentive to give them any information that comes across their desk?

This is always one of our arguments. Americans are not above some pretty sleazy stuff - I'm not foolish and/or arrogant enough to think otherwise - but the cost to find someone willing to do some pretty sleazy stuff overseas is going to be a heck of a lot less than it is here. Again - who would then enforce any laws we have in place here? First rule of medical transcription - confidentiality. Confidentiality, confidentiality, confidentiality. It's drilled in to our heads from the day we start training and working. We sign confidentiality agreements - and now there's HIPAA - which some companies have paid big bucks to make sure they are in compliance with. If I were to break that confidentiality agreement - there would be financial penalties I'd be responsible for. That's not going to be the case overseas. Who the heck would enforce it?

People should care that there medical records are going overseas, if for no other reason than to have them as accurate as possible.

[TheSpottedOwl]

160 to 300 a month??? No wonder all these greedy you know whats are sending the jobs overseas.

I've read all the replies so far, and the next time I get stuck with talking with one of them, I'm going to be a lot nicer...

[Moonmad27]

When it came time to choose a medical transcription service a couple years ago, one major transcription company sounded good. It has a name that sounds like it's middle America at its best - in the heartland, so to speak - but their salesman finally admitted it sends work to India. I'm glad someone else with American transcriptionists got the contract.

[Johnny Crab]

EXCELLENT! A co-worker has the unfortunate problem of being from India and a vegetarian and unique spiritual beliefs. This is in Texas and he gets "ribbed" constantly.

Another "secret" is the telecom industry export of similar IT stuff so Haji gets exposure to all kinds of nice tech stuff that "might" be harmful later AND a LOT of control systems are made in America by Haji's(H1-B's?) in Houston....seen 'em, dealt with 'em.

I make a mental note of each company with obvious "English as a second language" folks on support lines and "sales calls". THEY should note that I make a huge effort never to buy THEIR stuff again.

I'll forward this thread to ALL of my IT and CS friends so they know how to make Haji feel loved if he shows up on their phones....

[Noumenon]

Try asking about their day or childhood, see if they make up a story.

Try asking them what time it is. They won't tell you where they are.

[Myrddin]

Looks like the Indians are getting a good dose of what it means to work in IT. Many of us in the U.S. have to work from midnight to 8 AM too. It goes with the territory. Long hours glued to the keyboard with pressing deadlines are a sure road to a fat backside. The back pain, swollen feet, stinging tendons in the hands and arms are a delightful side effect of being in the IT industry. Not to mention a long term degradation in vision as you peer at a CRT for 10 to 14 hours each day. There is a price to pay for employment in IT. These people have just started down the road. The level of bitching is certain to increase as the toll in physical damage accrues.

I've had to support a huge application for a government organization in Belgium from an office in San Diego, CA. Unless you have VERY tight project controls and very high quality, it is a disaster to deal with a 9 hour time difference. The application I supported was over a million lines of C and FORTRAN and locked behind a classified spin-lock door. No remote access. No means of correcting a screw up remotely. The "customers" are a mix of U.S. and foreign military personnel. They speak English, German, Turkish, Italian and a few other languages. It is a difficult task. It is also one that can't be "outsourced" to India because of the DoD classified nature. This one has no telecom "fallback". It is high quality on delivery or a total failure.

[Porterville]

I guess they got to make them somewhere, God I love cheap labor...

[DuncanWaring]

Sounds like standard "third shift".

Big deal.

Americans have been doing it for decades.

[gaucho]

The NJ Unemployment call center is located in ... India.

[tom h]

"If you call Dell tech support, you have a 75% chance of talking to someone in Bangalore, or in New Dehli."

If you want to find out whether your customer service rep is in India, next time strike up a casual conversation with them and ask where they're calling from. When they hem and haw, don't answer, or change the subject, you know they're in India. Happens to me all the time. They know that an American would get steaming angry.

[Sir_Ed]

"If you call Dell tech support, you have a 75% chance of talking to someone in Bangalore, or in New Dehli."

We just ordered a Dell. The first guy we talked to had such a heavy accent that I literally had to ask him to repeat himself every two to three words. Finally, I just hung up and called back. We got a girl in Toronto. Then when we called to finalize it, we got a girl in Boise who was incredible, named Nancy!

Then...they delayed the shipment two weeks!

Oh well,

Ed

[tkathy]

My sister called AOL (America on line) support last week and got India!

[PokeyJoe]

Well, I'm sure that Nancy in Twin FAlls would appreciate a letter sent to her manager. =)

[John Jorsett]

your medical records, along with your SS#, and other pertinent information could be going overseas

Not mine. I pay cash, give a fake SS# if they insist on having one (one of these days just for fun I'm going to see what happens if I claim to be an illegal alien), and I'm never treated under my real name. I learned the hard way what can happen if one's medical records fall into the wrong hands, so I'm taking no chances.

[right-sidedNYer]

"Not mine. I pay cash, give a fake SS# if they insist on having one (one of these days just for fun I'm going to see what happens if I claim to be an illegal alien), and I'm never treated under my real name."

That works fine if you aren't walking in there with insurance. No can do if that's not the case - and contrary to popular opinion - it usually isn't.

I'm afraid you'll have to get your kicks somewhere else - because even if you claim to be an illegal alien - they will (have to) treat you. Once again - contrary to what the libs in this country would have us believe - we are a humane people and no one in this country - absolutely no one is denied medical care. The difference is - US citizens have to pay for it themselves while the illegals don't.

[Prerunner]

These complainer are way over paid, when their jobs are sent to china I'll sympathize with them.

[John Jorsett]

That works fine if you aren't walking in there with insurance. No can do if that's not the case - and contrary to popular opinion - it usually isn't.

Well, yeah. As someone once said, "freedom ain't free". If you want to live without Big Brother knowing your every move, it's going to cost you in either money or hassle or both. However, I'm about to obtain medical insurance from a new outfit, and I'm going to try doing it with an assumed name. No one has ever asked me for ID for medical insurance in the past, so if I just pay my premiums on time, things should be copasetic. If not, then they can keep their insurance, and I'll keep my anonymity. I've got enough dough to handle any health problem that comes up.

I'm afraid you'll have to get your kicks somewhere else - because even if you claim to be an illegal alien - they will (have to) treat you. Once again - contrary to what the libs in this country would have us believe - we are a humane people and no one in this country - absolutely no one is denied medical care. The difference is - US citizens have to pay for it themselves while the illegals don't.

I'm aware that they have to treat me. I was wondering if claiming to be an illegal would stop them from bugging me for an SSN. I've observed that some medical centers use the SSN as the master index for their records, which I think calls for a little monkeywrenching.

[right-sidedNYer]

You are indeed within your rights to not give them your SS# assuming that it's not your insurance ID# - which in a lot of cases it is. :)