ABSTRACT
The Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry in India has helped the country see its economic boom, and has made the country turn into a high-demand destination by several countries all over the globe. Unfortunately, the country is facing huge economic downfall due to the onset of the Covid-19 pandemic. While several businesses have come to a standstill due to the lockdowns being imposed, the BPO industry made a big shift to working-from-home. Working-from-home for the BPO industry was a never-thought-of option during any scenario in the past. Hence, this study aimed to understand the experiences of the BPO employees while working-from-home, which has become the new normal, the benefits as well as the challenges. While the need may arise any time, to shift back to the old normal of working-from-office, it is highly crucial to understand the challenges that the BPO employees foresee. An understanding of these challenges would help the companies with the ability to take the necessary measures to deal with the challenges in effective ways. Twenty women and sixteen men employees working in BPOs in Chermai city were chosen for the study, through convenient sampling technique. A semistructured interview schedule was prepared for the collection of data. Qualitative as well as quantitative measures were used to analyze the data collected. Results revealed the 100benefits and challenges experienced by the BPO employees while working from home. Based on the challenges that they foresee while having to shift back to working from office, strategies have been suggested to deal with the challenges.
