Information technology (IT) involves such things as computers, satellites, cell phones, and the Internet. IT is very important for the 21st-century information society. Indians are very good at tech. Much of this very large population, the majority of which is under 30, is comfortable with technology. Indian education focuses on STEM subjects, math and science favored as a means of success. Indian governmental policies and private investment encourage the development of technology. Net result: a lot of Indians are good at tech.
A Call To The Help Line
There is a problem with your credit card.
After a bit of grumbling, you call the helpline. Chances are, the person at the call center is Indian. Not Native American. A person who lives in the country of India.
A position at a call center is a highly sought job. A small fraction of the people who apply are able to obtain a position. It is paid much higher than the average salary in India and many people who work there have a college degree. Why is this position so popular in India?
Information Technology
We now live in an information society where information and service professions dominate.
Information technology (IT) involves such things as computers, satellites, cell phones, and the Internet. And call centers.
A majority of the GDP (Gross Domestic Product) of India is services-based and a good chunk of that involves jobs in the IT sector. Tech is a prime business in India.
Population Influences
India is the most populous nation in the world after China. It has about 1.4 Billion (that is billion) people. The United States has about 330 Million and has three times the land area.
Sixty percent of the population is under thirty. They are very comfortable with modern technology. There is a large pool of people available and even by random statistics, it would be likely many people in tech would be Indian. They are about 18% of the world’s population.
A large population, such as in China, leads to a lot of pressure to succeed. Lots of people in India live in poverty. Technology is a path to financial success, including overseas in the United States, Great Britain, and various other prime opportunities for a better life.
Education
Education in India is a highly pressured environment that favors rote learning as compared to analytic reasoning. STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) subjects are encouraged. Math skills learned in the United States in high school are taught much earlier.
The Indian Institute of Technology was established a few years after independence. There are now many institutes of technology under the control of the Ministry of Education. They are esteemed as top education providers throughout the world.
India declared independence from Great Britain in the 1940s but English is still one of the nation’s official languages. This is very useful in the IT field where English is the “lingua franca,” the common language world over. Those call center workers speak English.
Investment and Government Support
Education is just one way the government of India invests in the nation’s future.
There was a telecom revolution in the 1980s. Indian tax policies encouraged a thriving IT industry. Economic policies continue to support tech, including patent protections to make research and development profitable.
Private investment in technology is also thriving in India. A middle class is rising in India which provides a market for information technology. It is good for business.
Competitive Advantage
Indian technology industry today has a presence in over one hundred countries and draws on employees from 150 nationalities. It plays an important role in the U.S. economy.
We have seen why India has a competitive advantage in providing technology jobs including their education, language skills, and investment choices. Competitive advantage means having certain benefits that make you more successful, and more competitive, such as lower labor costs.
Globalization, the many ways technology and trade made the world an interconnected place, plays a role as well with that call center. This includes the ability to have a day shift taking calls on the opposite of the world, in English, while it is nighttime in the United States.
And, you just might get a solution to that credit card problem of yours.