Substance addiction is one of the growing concerns for many employers in India. Business Process Outsourcing companies, which serve consumers in countries such as Australia, United Kingdom and the United States of America, are more concerned about employee drug addiction.
Employees in these companies are more vulnerable to drug addiction as many employees are just out of college and are between 18 and 30 years. These young people undergo rigorous training, put in long hours, and make many calls each night. Long working hours, high earning capacities and little awareness makes them vulnerable to these substances. Some people get into these unhealthy habits due to curiosity or just to experiment. Soon they will get addicted to them and destroy themselves.
According to the 2004 National Survey on the substance abuse by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC), nearly 73 million people in this country consume illicit drugs including alcohol. The drug or alcohol addiction can affect the company in terms of absenteeism, and medical leaves, reduced productivity, and accidents or errors at job.
Understanding the harmful effects of drug addiction, five companies joined the programme organized by UNODC to prevent the substance use. It should be noted that there is no taboo in talking about drugs their impact on people’s lives. Drug detection and awareness enhances productivity as well as employee welfare. Also detecting drug addicts at work and counseling them makes working environment safe.