ICICI OneSource, with an 8,000 staff count in Bombay and Bangalore aims to create 1,000-jobs in Northern Ireland over the next 2-years, with the opening of two of its outsourcing centres. And, its new offices will largely be responsible for handling call centre work on behalf of British and European clients, who do not want to shift such functions to the sub-continent. The firm s British clients are mainly drawn from the financial and telecommunications industries.
According to a report in Britain s Telegraph newspaper, Britain s first Indian-owned call centre opened in Belfast yesterday, in a complete reversal of the controversial off-shoring / outsourcing trend, when British firms opened call centres in the sub-continent to take advantage of its low cost labour. Further, the first batch of ICICI OneSource s 60-Irish employees began a 7-week training course in Belfast under the professional guidance of Indian call centre experts, who will be putting them through their paces for the duration of the course.
Once the news gets out and about, the idea of Indians training British call centre employees is bound to raise more than a few eyebrows. It was not so long ago, these very same customers complained of the frustrating waits and the enormous difficulty faced in understanding accents, when dealing with companies that relied on foreign (read Indian) call centres.
It was mainly this customer dis-satisfaction that caused several big firms to pull out of India, not because they were unhappy with the services provided, but because they feared a fearsome backlash, a withdrawal of customer business, anger that British jobs had been sent overseas.
Matthew Vallance, ICICI OneSource s Managing Director in Europe saying the launch was part of ICICI s plans to create a global network of outsourcing locations, stated: Technically it would be possible (to do all call-centre work in India), but some of our clients want some parts of their work handled close to home, and added: This is not about moving work from India to the UK; it is about the growth and expansion of our business. People are very familiar with the Irish accent, and we think it will work very well.
Although, most of the large off-shore service providers from India have sales offices in the UK, most back-office work is carried out off-shore. ICICI OneSource s first operation in the UK, it is also the first time an Indian outsourcer has developed such an off-shore call centre itself.
A smart move by the Indians, a move that is bound to ensure the off-shoring / outsourcing crown remains with them. Having learnt their lesson well, If the mountain won t come to Mohammed, then Mohammed must go to the mountain! , they have proceeded to go to the mountain. As other low cost competitors crop up, India service providers knowing they must do one better, have begun to expand and branch out by setting up call centres overseas, ensuring that when the phone is picked up, there will be fewer complaints about accents, as they will be one of their own! Called good business sense, the Indians have plenty of it. As can be seen from the fact that money earned from outsourced operations is now being spent to generate much more.
And now, there should be no complaints about jobs fleeing to India. It may well be the other way round, as Indians begin to complain about their jobs being sent out West!
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