Read the passage and answer the questions:
The highest level of decision makers or policymakers perform quinary activities. These are subtly different from the knowledge-based industries that the quaternary sector in general deals with. Quinary activities are services that focus on the creation, re-arrangement and interpretation of new and existing ideas; data interpretation and the use and evaluation of new technologies. Often referred to as ‘gold collar’ professions, they represent another subdivision of the tertiary sector representing special and highly paid skills of senior business executives, government officials, research scientists, financial and legal consultants, etc. Their importance in the structure of advanced economies far outweighs their numbers. Outsourcing has resulted in the opening up of a large number of call centers in India, China, Eastern Europe, Israel, the Philippines and Costa Rica. It has created new jobs in these countries. Outsourcing is coming to those countries where cheap and skilled workers are available. These are also out migrating countries. With the work available through outsourcing, the migration in these countries may come down. Outsourcing countries are facing resistance from job-seeking youths in their respective countries. The comparative advantage is the main reason for continuing outsourcing. New trends in quinary services include knowledge processing outsourcing (KPO) and ‘home shoring’, the latter as an alternative to outsourcing. The KPO industry is distinct from Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) as it involves highly skilled workers. It is information-driven knowledge outsourcing. KPO enables companies to create additional business opportunities. Examples of KPOs include research and development (R and D) activities, e-learning, business research, intellectual property (IP) research, legal profession and the banking sector.
Due to which of the following there are large number of call centers in India, China, Philippines and Costa Rica?
Answer & explanation
Correct answer: option 4
The correct answer is Option (4) → Availability of cheap and skilled workers
Option (1) Availability of capital — Incorrect. The company that outsources brings its own money; it seeks workers, not capital.
Option (2) Availability of water — Incorrect. Call centres run on people and phone lines, not on water.
Option (3) Paucity of population in these countries — Incorrect. These are out-migrating countries, with more workers than jobs.
Option (4) Availability of cheap and skilled workers — Correct. Companies outsource work to cut costs. Where workers are both cheap and skilled, the same service is done well for far less in wages, so outsourcing is coming to those countries where cheap and skilled workers are available. That is what has opened many call centres in India, China, the Philippines and Costa Rica.
NCERT (2025-26): “Quinary Activities … Outsourcing has resulted in the opening up of a large number of call centres in India, China, Eastern Europe, Israel, Philippines and Costa Rica. It has created new jobs in these countries. Outsourcing is coming to those countries where cheap and skilled workers are available. These are also out-migrating countries.…” |