Life on the Other End of the Tech Support Line

Ant writes to mention a PC World article about life on the other end of the tech support line. From the article: "According to interviewees, entry-level jobs at U.S. tech support firms pay about $7 an hour. Workers for a third-party tech support firm in New Delhi, India, make less than half that. Akanksha Chaand, who holds an advanced degree in computer science and had a job fielding calls for Hewlett-Packard at Business Processing Outsourcing in New Delhi, India, made the equivalent of $13,000 a year working in tech support--significantly more money than many less fortunate people in India earn. In contrast, a tech support pro who now lives in Arizona says she was barely scraping by on her $7-an-hour salary with no benefits. The rep, who asked that her name not be used, said it was only a bit better than her previous job--delivering pizzas. She said she received two weeks of training before taking calls from the public. "

Comments

Digg+!

[Photon Ghoul]

The link points to a digg article that points to the PC Mag article. Not sure what to say.

Re:Digg+!

[Photon Ghoul]

I like the way I was the third person to comment or so and that makes the comment redundant.

Re:Like omg and stuff

[Steinfiend]

There ARE higher level Tech Support jobs out there that pay more, thats true. However, there are a very limited number, how is everyone who is currently in a minimum wage Tech Support position supposed to get one, skilled or not?

Your comment is like you going into McDonalds and asking the fry-cook why they aren't Head Chef at Mesa Grill, and didn't they know it pays a bunch more than McDonalds.

So what does the numbers mean?

[houghi]

made the equivalent of $13,000 a year
and
scraping by on her $7-an-hour salary with no benefits.

These numbers mean nothing when you compare them. How long is each person working? To get the same 1857 hours must be worked.
This is 37 hours per week and 2 weeks holiday.

And for a company not only are they interested in what they pay the people. Other factors are prices of the buildings and any other overhead cost.

Wether the people can get by is of no importance. Welcome to capitalism where prices are dictated by what you can get away with and the cheaper offer will be taken.