Numerous employees, crammed into small call center workstations in confined quarters, offer support services to clients worldwide. These services include live chat, email help, back-office support, invoicing, online store administration, picture processing, and more.
Although the outsourcing sector employs hundreds of thousands of Bangladeshis and brings in billions annually, executives worry that the industry’s very survival may be in jeopardy due to the internet shutdown that authorities imposed in an attempt to put an end to anti-government rallies. Hundreds of workers, crammed into small desks in claustrophobic office spaces, offer support services to clients worldwide, including live chat, email help, back office support, invoicing, online shop administration, image processing, and more.
In Bangladesh, the business process outsourcing (BPO) sector is thought to bring in two billion dollars annually.
However, since authorities enforced an internet blackout on Thursday to put an end to rallies against employment quotas that had descended into violent disorder, it now faces the danger of closures and layoffs. “A complete blackout is nothing short of a disaster in this line of work, where a five-minute delay is not acceptable,” stated IT entrepreneur and former president of the Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services, Fahim Mashroor.
He serves as the CEO of Bdjobs.com, a website that offers services to customers in 13 nations, including Swedish fashion label Ellos and German sportswear manufacturer Puma. “All of our communication is done through email, and when the internet was disconnected suddenly, we couldn’t let the client know about our situation.” Executives feel it is now too late, despite the government’s announcement on Tuesday evening that broadband internet would be restored. Since the internet was shut down, BPO groups claim the sector has been losing $7 million every day. Businesses in Bangladesh fear that their clients will be taken over by competitors in the region, such as India, the Philippines, and Vietnam.
and I worry that I lost them all in a matter of days,” stated Monir Hosen, general director of the 300-person call center company Creative Clipping Path. “Bangladesh’s reputation will be permanently damaged for the clients,” he stated. Two significant clients in the EU receive round-the-clock back-office support from 200 employees of the BPO company ASL. However, CEO and creator Zayed Uddin Ahmed worries that he will soon have to shut down and fire his staff. According to him, a lot of foreign clients require continuous support for real-time feedback, communication, and payment processing services.
They depend on our services around the clock, and they will send orders to our rival and neighboring nations if we are unable to meet their needs,” he stated. “The extent of losses is immeasurable for us.” “My family is going to be impoverished.” Jannati Tazrimin, a trainer at his company, claimed that she and other employees were afraid for their employment. “Since we work on a project basis, everyone in my project would lose their job if the client cancelled the contract with us because of the blackout,” she stated. “My entire crew is terrified of losing their jobs, not just me.
I’m eager to resume my work. I really, really need it. However, I need my internet connectivity restored right now for that,” she continued. For Humayun Kabir, a Creative Clipping Path production manager, this is the worst circumstance he has ever had in his eleven years in the business. Despite the COVID epidemic, he had no concern about losing his job. The father of two added, “But this is the first time I am afraid of losing my job.” Customers of the company anticipate receiving processed photographs on time, allowing them to be uploaded to e-commerce websites.
Nigeria and Somalia have already shown themselves to be formidable rivals with lower prices, Kabir told AFP, warning that losing business to them may result in his and his colleagues’ termination. The 36-year-old continued, “I will not be able to change my profession at mid-career.” “My family will be destitute.”
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