Alarming attrition rate plagues the BPO sector which contributes 4.1 per cent of the country's GDP (2004-05) with a projection of 50 per cent annual growth rate in 2004-06, a study on employee perception in outsourcing business, by the international risk management firm Hill & Associates revealed.

BPO companies are therefore likely to move up the value chain as attrition rates in low value added segments (call centres) were much higher as compared to high value ones like engineering.

The study addressed certain myths about the causes of high attrition rates in this sector.

Contrary to popular belief only 19 per cent of the respondents cited night shifts as the reason behind a job change. Monotony of work and salary hike issues were cited only by 39 per cent.

The majority, over 50 per cent attributed their exit to expectation mismatches, job stagnation and lack of growth, quest for a better job content and dissatisfaction with company policies.

The survey indicated that an international work environment and infrastructure, which 36 per cent of the respondents agreed to, were equally important, contrary to common perception as salary, incentives and lifestyles, (35 per cent) being the reason for joining the BPO industry.

The risk of mismatched expectations ran high at the very beginning as 60 per cent of the respondents were recruited either through advertisements or head hunting agencies.

These advertisements did not paint an accurate picture of the job profile sowing discontent.

The study elicited responses especially from the young population employed in the BPO sector with undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate education.

Owing to misconceptions regarding the causes of such high attrition rates, only 40 per cent of the key reasons were addressed by the HR responses.

"Attrition not only pushes up training cost of employees and hampers productivity but also jeopardises the level of 'Knowledge Maturity' of an organisation and its employees," Ashish Sonal, country manager, Hill & Associates, pointing out the dangers of attrition, said.