Outsourced

Indian Call Centers Hire in U.S.

As rising wages at home send them elsewhere for cheap labor.

Outsourcing … to the U.S.? As wages in India rise and the United States has cut back on visas for visiting Indian workers, outsourcing giants are starting to hire workers in the U.S. to answer phones in call centers. As Indian companies like Tata Consultancy Services do more business in the U.S., it makes sense for them to increase their U.S. presence, and sometimes it's easier to hire Americans than navigate the visa system. Another company, Aegis Communications, which now has an office in New York, has a host of new terms for the practice, such as “near-sourcing,” “diverse shoring,” and “cross shoring.” There can be tension between U.S. employees and their Indian counterparts because U.S. workers are paid four times more although Indian workers are usually better educated.