Posted on: Tuesday, November 25, 2003

Dell to switch some support calls to U.S.

By Peter J. Brennan
Bloomberg News Service

Dell Inc., the world's second-largest personal-computer maker, will switch some corporate customer support calls from a call center in Bangalore, India, to the United States after complaints from customers.

"Customers felt they weren't getting the level of support to their satisfaction," Dell spokesman Jon Weisblatt said.

Weisblatt declined to say what the complaints were about. Jobs will be added in both the United States and India as the company continues to expand, he said.

Dell, like other U.S. corporations, has been routing some service calls from the United States to India. India offers a well-educated workforce that speaks English, is available to service other parts of the world besides the United States and is cheaper, Weisblatt said.

Forrester Research Inc., a Cambridge, Mass.-based consulting company, has predicted that over the next 15 years, 3.3 million U.S. service-industry jobs and $136 billion in annual wages will move to India, the Philippines and China, among other lower-wage countries.