India Outsourcing BPO Costs - 5/?
June 7th, 2005Hello,
Here is reason No 4 on why costs in Pune are coming to be on par with that of Bangalore and Chennai.
4. Geographic mobility:
With the internet, as they say Geography is now History. While this easily applies and is apparent to flow of information, riding on the back of such information is a cross pollination of culture and weakening of ethnic affinities. Cheapening air travel and no frills airlines have given a further impetus to physical mobility.
At least with in a country this applies easily. Crossing international borders can still invite impediments such as visas and quotas etc. often designed to maintain a higher protective barrier for domestic labor.
Food and tastes for food have become uniform all over the country. No longer does the Tamilian hanker after idlis and dosas only diet. He or she is quite comfortable with rotis and sabjis. And the Puneites do not stick to waran bhat either.
Young folks are more willing to move. They have fewer responsibilities. An email account and a mobile with roaming rates dropping all the time, helps them to keep in touch with their parents, if they so desire.
So with cross flow of labor intra country labor arbitrage opportunities should disappear if not become minimal.
But then this is even more so in the US of A. How have costs behaved in the Silicon Valley / North East as against the Central / Midwest?
What influences costs in various cities and why do certain cities continue to remain cost effective?
Watch out in the next.
Venkat
