India, home of outsourced jobs is losing jobs
BANGALORE, India, (IPS/GIN) - The global recession appears likely to cost this information technology hub at least 50,000 jobs.
The Union of Information Technology Enabled Services (UNITES) Professionals, India, made that prediction for the first half of 2009.
Ever since United States majors like General Electric and American Express shifted their back office processing operations to India in 1994-96, the world’s major corporations, from the airlines to banking industries, resorted to business process outsourcing to this country, raising jobs from 553,000 in 2007 to the current 1.6 million.
Tight labor markets in the United States and Europe, linguistic capabilities, reliable and cheaper telephone communication and operational costs together with a government setup that encouraged foreign direct investment with tax breaks, have been major factors in the growth of the sector.
India’s information technology enabled services sector has been growing at a steady 30 percent rate over the past few years, and overall sales in 2007-2008 stood at $52 billion. But the slowdown in the U.S. and European markets has led to sudden job losses that have raised new labor issues.
