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Anti-Outsourcing Bill Tragets Call Centers

By SiliconIndia | Wednesday, 21 December 2011, 02:18 Hrs

Anti-Outsourcing Bill Tragets Call Centers

Bangalore: Countries like India and Philippines, the much preferred call center destinations by U.S. companies were dismayed as the anti-outsourcing lobby in U.S. has fired up a new bill. According to a bipartisan bill listed in the House of Representatives, American corporations, which have set their call centers offshore, can be punished by making such companies ineligible by the federal government for grants and guaranteed loans. This bill is aims to stem the job tides directing towards nations like India. Moreover, the U.S. consumers are now given the liberty to question the call center representatives regarding the location of the center and can even ask for American-based representative as an alternative.

The U.S. Call Center Worker and Consumer Protection Act are introduced by Tim Bishop, a Democrat Congressman from New York and Republican representative, David McKinley. The bill clamps down outsourcing to a great extent and will set a hard line of authorization on call center operations. India is seen to be much affected by this proposed legislation as the country already embraces almost 50 percent of the global outsourcing market including call centers, software development outlets and back offices.

Bishop said, "Outsourcing is one of the scourges of our economy and why we are struggling so to knock down the unemployment rate," as quoted by The Hindu.

According to Contact Center Association of the Philippines, the country is leading ahead in call center jobs with 350,000 employees in comparison to India with 330,000 employees. The protectionist legislation by America will put a hold on several call center operations. According to it, the Secretary of Labour will have to maintain a list of employers that are located overseas. A 120-day advance notification has to be provided by the companies before moving a call center overseas.