Editorial column ( 'Destination India' ) - The Times of india, April 8, 2006
The news that the United Kingdom has ushered in a regulation - the updated Transfer of Undertakings (Protection of Employment) regulations 2006 or TUPE - that will make companies providing outsourcing and offshoring services liable for the loss of jobs of British workers has, in all probability, unleashed a tsunami of panic among the ever-mushrooming Business Process Outsourcing ( BPO) outfits in India.
Not surprising since the regulation will yank up the costs incurred by the Indian companies to a few million pounds! The resulting expense will be built into the Indian company's cost structure and will, no doubt, be passed on to the businesses in the UK that have hired them. The upshot? India will lose its competitive edge since the factor of cost-effectiveness will be lost.
However, as is explained in the editorial, its not the end of the Outsourcing road. In fact, it says, one should look upon it as a fork-off into newer avenues. These BPO majors, it advises, should pack in fact their bags and shift their headquarters, or their front offices, to India. A genius move which, in one fell swoop, will not only nullify the effect of the new regulation but will also bring in with it the advantages of decreased labour and operational costs.
At this point the leader issues a word of caution. That great behemoth, the Indian government, on its part should shrug off its lethargy and help these companies by not tramelling them in the labyrinth of red tape.Once this happens, India will benefit - and benefit tremendously - in terms of both global workculture and standards brought in by these companies. Thus Indian BPO's will never again have to feel like haunted changelings everytime the anti-outsourcing drum is beaten anywhere in the world.