Adjusting to Dual Burden of Work and Family: A Study of Women Employees of Call Center in India

Transnational Call Centres in India cater to the customers of developed countries like United Kingdom and United States. Due to time differences between Western countries and India employees have to work at night. The objective of the paper is to bring out how far the women employees are able to negotiate between their career and family life. The study is based on data and evidence available from various surveys carried out on women employees of transnational Call Centres located in India cities. The night shift disrupts normal social and family life routine and becomes challenging, especially for married women. It challenges and changes the position of women by physically taking her away from home, family and society and leading to her social and mental isolation. Women hardly have time to spend with family during daytime or holidays. The cumulative outcome of all these is increasing health hazards and mental stress, which women manage through positive and negative coping mechanism.