Flexible options of working from home stand for ‘opportunity’ for a lot of women. There are many reasons why women find it difficult to join the workforce or are compelled to drop out from it early. As Ragini Deewan, the Amazon VCS lead from India, puts it, these reasons could be endless. Sometimes it could be societal pressure to work late hours, leaving their hometown to work in metro cities, or managing a life–work balance.
Says Ragini, “VCS for me is about creating options for women who wanted so much to work, but due to lack of opportunities had to close the door on their dreams. In the Indian context, VCS is a highly disruptive working model, and it offers a fun and flexible model allowing one to work from the comfort of home along with all the discomfort of a fast paced work environment! This is about creating history and I’m loving it as allows all of us ‘women’ the option to ‘choose’ over ‘seeking permission’!”
For new mothers and homemakers to stay-at-home parents, VCS is an opportunity to work and earn from the comfort and flexibility of one’s home. “It’s not my goal to be a single parent, but it’s my destiny to be the greatest. My family is God’s greatest masterpiece that VCS has enabled me cherish and love more,” says Maliha Zahid, the customer service associate form Amazon VCS, UK.
Amazon VCS hires customer service associates around the country to work from home, but far from being removed from where all the action is, remote VCS employees are kept in constant communication. They are all a part of regular employee engagement activities as well as rewards and recognitions that keep them engaged and invested in Amazon’s customer-first workplace ethos.
Following close on the heels of the rapid growth of Amazon India’s customer service business unit in Hyderabad, Pune, Coimbatore and Noida, the VCS practice too is growing at a rapid pace around the country. In 2017 alone, VCS grew to three times its size and with more opportunities opening through 2018, this growth shows no sign of slowing down.
VCS is a sign of the times. It signals that amazing customer experiences are possible without the workforce giving on its personal needs and commitments. A win-win proposition if there ever was one, VCS paves the way for happier employees and happier customers. What’s not to love?
“I am grateful to the management for introducing such an innovative and futuristic way of working; which makes me more independent, curious, and keep being ‘me’,” shares Sonu Manna, CS Associate, UK VCS. Adds Sonu, “I quote Thomas Merton here, where he says, ‘Happiness is not a matter of intensity but of balance, order, rhythm and harmony’. Amazon in VCS has given me or in fact taught me to achieve the same. When I was drifting myself, as a mother, Amazon VCS gave me a whole new perspective to see myself as a working mother.
I always wanted to have my own identity , but not at the cost of losing sight of my loved one, my daughter. So Amazon VCS gave me the opportunity to keep my mind and heart in the right place at my chosen time; making me more productive in the best of the two worlds—family and career—with no guilt.” In Sonu’s words, it is wonderful to work as an Amazon VCS associate. With this opportunity, Amazon has thrown women challenges and made them and their work feel valued and acknowledged.
It is, indeed, always Day 1 in Amazon!
