Now, help is at hand for BPO pros

The Centre for BPO Professionals, a non-profit organisation, will facilitate a platform for BPO and call centre professionals to discuss their issues and find out solutions and help them maintain their employability and adaptability in the volatile market requirements.

"CBPOP has been created with an objective to act as a common voice for problems of BPO and call centre professionals and to help them in times of emergency and distress," director, J S R Prasad, CBPOP, said.

CBPOP, an affiliate of Geneva-based Union Network International, was started six months back in Hyderabad and had opened its second office in Bangalore.

It has so far enrolled about 1000 members in Hyderabad and Bangalore and soon it will have a full-fledged office in Chennai.

"Though BPO and call centre business is growing in India, other countries like China, Philippines, Malaysia and Canada are also competing with us to grab a share in outsourced business," said SM Govindarajan, president of IT Professionals Forum and director of CBPOP.

If these countries become cheaper and offer better quality services, then the jobs might move to these countries. So what is the job security for our professionals, he asked.

"Besides addressing psychological ailments and other health problems, CBPOP will focus on helping the professionals maintain their employability and adaptability, to cope with volatile market requirements and update their skills to meet the future requirements," he added.