Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) industry is ridden with inherent problems that result in stressful working. This study aims at understanding how role stress operates in BPO industry. Organizational Role Stress (ORS) scale was used to measure 10 role stressors (Inter Role Distance, Role Stagnation, Role Expectation Conflict, Role Erosion, Role Overload, Role Isolation, Personal Inadequacy, Self Role Distance, Role Ambiguity and Resource Inadequacy) on 104 respondents from 15 companies engaged in business process outsourcing. Role Stagnation was found to be the most prominent role stressor. 47 out of 55 possible pairs of the 11 role stress variables (i.e., 10 role stressors and the total role stress) have significant and positive inter-correlations. Exploratory factor analysis of 10 role stressors brought out that role stress is experienced in the BPO companies under study in three ways. Role Distance, Work Life Imbalance and Role Inadequacy are the three meta role stressors prominently operating in these companies.Role Distance represents a combination of role stressors that results in a role occupant distancing from his/her own role and his/her role distancing from other related roles. Work Life Imbalance represents another combination of role stressors that result in role occupant experiencing difficulty to balance between work and life. Role Inadequacy represents yet another combination of role stressors signifying lack of competence and resources for the role. These meta role stressors reflect the most important problems and concerns in BPO industry.

Outsourcing has become a recognized business strategy for enhancing the productivity and profitability of large companies (Grossman and Helpman, 2005). Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) is the most common form of outsourcing. It comprises transfer of operational ownership of some of the business processes to an external provider who manages the outsourced business processes according to the performance metrics prescribed by the parent company.

India, undoubtedly, is the most preferred BPO destination in the world. The Indian BPO sector is prospering at an exponential rate, but it is ridden with inherent problems (Mehta et al., 2006). BPO industries are adopting tight controls to be cost-effective, offering little flexibility to their operators. There is always a conflict between quality and quantity. The operators are expected to minimize the duration of calls. At the same time, they should deliver higher client satisfaction through each call. Extraordinary emphasis on customer-centric operation leads to monotony of work, resulting in boredom for operators (Budhwar et al., 2006). There is a constant pressure to comply with performance metrics. Compulsion to serve on `graveyard shifts' to service clients in different time zones across the globe further aggravates the woes of BPO operators. BPO companies have become `new-age sweatshops' and BPO operators their `cyber coolies' (Budhwar et al., 2006).

Generally, BPO operators are fresh graduates, who lack competence. They do not have any reasonable opportunities for their career growth in BPO. They also do not have viable options for alternate employment. BPO jobs are easily available and they offer attractive starting salaries. However, the initial glamor of BPO jobs fades as the operators come across the hard realities about the BPO industry. Their enthusiasm soon gives way to depleted motivation, helplessness and frustration. BPO jobs are therefore seen as filler jobs and the BPO industry has a low perceived value as an employer (Gupta and Gupta, 2008). BPO operators cannot do full justice with their familial/non-organizational role because of their long and unusual working hours; they get isolated from the real world.

BPO Industry, Business Process Outsourcing, Organizational Role Stress, Inter Role Distance, Role Stagnation, Role Expectation Conflict, Role Erosion, Role Overload, Role Isolation, Personal Inadequacy, Role Ambiguity, Resource Inadequacy.