Covid-19: No outsourcing for these business processes management companies

Bengaluru: Business process management companies that handle critical functions for some of the world’s largest corporations are being forced to halt large chunks of their operations in India, as the country nears the second week of a nationwide lockdown to stem the tide of Covid-19 infections.

Client protocol that disallows transfer to a work-from-home mode coupled with employees’ inability to commute to office is leading to large-scale stoppages, said company executives.

“A significant portion of the work also requires employees to access private customer data, this cannot be shifted,” said an executive with a US-listed BPM company. “About 50% work has stopped,” the person said. The work that is most impacted is voice-based, with transaction and platform processes less affected.