BPO :  How Much Are Employees Really Paid ?

By Simrit

“The BPO is the place to be in”, is the phrase of the decade, but only those who work for them know the true essence of working in a place where Dollars don’t flow like the river and incentives don’t mount like The Himalayas. One needs to really work hard or rather slog it out to enjoy their pay at the end of the month, and many a times the hours worked and the work pressure makes one think and wonder if this is what they really want out of life.

So for all those who have stars in their eyes and are yearning to jump on the wagon, here is a little bit of insight on how much to expect.

For a fresher, someone who has just passed out of college (either undergrad or postgrad) and has absolutely no experience in a BPO, the salary that is paid is around 1.45lacs, where after all deductions, the take home will be around Rs10, 000, but if you bring along about 6mths to 20mths of experience in a reputed BPO or if you have completed MCA from a recognized Institution, your luck will change and you will be given anything from 1.8lacs to 2.15lacs and can happily carry home a pay packet of Rs15000 to Rs18000 .

If you have more than 2years of experience, not only does your grade go up, but so does your salary. Isn’t that wonderful! Yup, your starting package would be 2.3lacs and this would keep increasing based on your experience and your current drawn salary. Sometimes these candidates are the ones who do the least work, sit in a lot of endless meetings, happily munching on cream biscuits and sipping hot coffee and earn the most. The only downside is, they will be asked to face the client or attend calls with the top management, which may not always be fun. This applies to those who are in the Middle management level (Assistant managers & Managers) as well.

When a person with over 10yrs experience walks into our company for an interview, the way he is received, made comfortable to his offer is quite nice, that’s where all of us aspire to be “someday”, but only a few make it, they are either very hard working or extremely smart and know what they want. These guys get paid the most next to the Vice President and Presidents, their salaries are in the ballpark of 9lacs to 14lacs, there are a few exceptions who would quote a much higher price, and in such cases, all we can do is be polite and tell them there is no way we can match up to their expectations and bid them farewell if they don’t agree to what we have to offer.

Before you step into a BPO dreaming of owning a Toyota Innova or an I-mate JAM, think twice and be a little more realistic is all I can say.

(Simrit handled the recruitment for a Mumbai-based BPO before migrating to USA)