Just about anyone who has called a big corporation's customer service line or sought tech help for a wayward computer has wound up speaking to a company representative sitting somewhere in India. Outsourcing to that vast sub-continent is a no-brainer for corporations trying to cut costs--India is home to a "vast pool of low-cost, English-speaking and tech-savvy" workers, according to the Washington Post.

Unfortunately, the waters are not calm in that vast pool. Customer service agents often must swim against a tide of "irate, abusive or racist callers," even when the callers learn they aren't paying the long distance charges. The abuse is "psychologically disturbing" for the Indian workers, the Post noted.

In response, call centers have tried to Americanize their presentations and erase the Indian-ness of their workers as much as possible, renaming them "Jim" and "Biff" and "Dubya," for instance. Some go as far as pretending these faceless workers are not in India at all.

"Industry watchers say some call centers have giant TV screens showing the weather in different U.S. cities, the scores from the latest New York Knicks game or news about the latest play on Broadway," the Post wrote. "The agents use the information on the screen to make small talk with the caller and mask their location in India." Part of their training is to watch hours of popular American TV shows.

There's no guarantee that India is going to survive the onslaught of frustrated American consumers, most of whom would prefer to hurl irate, abusive and racist epithets at service workers who are fellow citizens.

Still, if U.S. corporations abandon India, they're likely to just find another pool of English-speaking, tech-savvy workers. This time with thicker skin.
 

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